The Lakeland Vikings defeated Lincoln 50-46 on Friday night in Lakeland. Lincoln (0-4) is still looking for that first win and are searching for answers. They still have two injured starters out on a young and inexperience squad. The players who went 28-1 last season all graduated except for now junior Cam Everhart, their capable sixth man last season.
Lincoln led 17-10 after one and looked like the better team early on. The Vikings chipped away to tie the game at half, 27-27.
The somewhat smaller Vikings came out of the locker room and simply outplayed the Cardinals. They pulled ahead by ten at 39-29 and led 40-33 after three.
Turnovers plagued both sides and the game was ugly at times.
With the score 48-43 at the 16.6 mark, Xaxier Smith hit the biggest three of his career from the top of the key to cut it to 48-46. Lincoln fouled and the Vikings, now 2-3, hit a couple of free throws to put the game on ice.
Coach Tyler Burke commented, "We started the game off well. We were able to force some turnovers and create some transition buckets. We just weren't able to do that over the course of the game. We forced 27 turnovers but we gave back 24. That along with our inability to shoot a high percentage in the paint cost us. The turnovers are obviously an issue but we have an inexperience roster that hasn't been put in these situations before."
He went on to say, "Our kids played extremely hard and there are a lot of positives we can build on too. We have been in a lot of close games. We have to focus on the things that matter most and limit our mistakes. If that happens, we can get our season going in the direction we want it to go."
LAKELAND (50): Moran, 11; Brownlee, 20; Gregory, 6; Glaum, 5; Gonzales, 6.
LINCOLN (46): Everhart, 10; Eckhoff, 12; Cole, 8; Young, 2; Smith, 5; Benham, 3; Srader, 6.
