Lynx Cruise

The biggest challenge the Lincoln College men’s basketball team faced last week seemed to be handling their leads of 20 plus points in the second half.

The Lynx (20-4, 9-1), ranked No. 5 in NJCAA Division II, avenged their only conference loss, dominating Parkland College (13-11, 7-3) 84-64 at Davidson-Sheffer Gymnasium. It was the fourth home win by a margin of 20 points or more in seven days. 

“Our fans and students obviously have a lot to do with it,” said Lynx head coach BJ McCullum of his team’s home dominance. “But, we are also a good basketball team. When we get on a roll, we tend to get separation (from opponents) no matter where we’re playing.”

The early hot hand of sophomore forward Jake Littrel got the Lynx off on the right foot.  Littrel hit three threes in the game’s first three and a half minutes to ignite the Lynx offense.  Joining Littrel in the three point party were the freshman guard duo of David Pickering and PJ Keaton. Pickering would hit two first half threes, while Keaton would hit three, including a rare four-point play that put the Lynx ahead 41-23 with 6:14 remaining.  A final Littrel three in the waning seconds of the first half gave the Lynx a 52-28 halftime lead. 

The Lynx shot 10-19 from three-point range in their dominating first half performance, with Littrel scoring all of his 14 points in the first half.

“I thought Jake was really big for us today,” said McCullum. “He shot the ball great. He had a big block that gave us all the momentum we needed. He’s been our leader, and he’s consistently been our best player.”

For Littrel, the prior loss to Parkland and the desire to please the crowd served as motivation.

“I haven’t been feeling good since we lost to Parkland in Champaign,” said Littrel. “I thought we needed to make a statement to them, and let them know who we really are.”

“It seems like we’ve been losing people. This place is can be so crazy when it’s packed, and the students are all here. We’re just trying to keep it that way. We want to get people out here, because it can be a real tough gem to play in when it’s full.”

It wasn’t difficult for McCullum to pinpoint what keyed his team’s victory.

“We shot the ball unbelievably well,” said the coach. “If we have a normal first half of thirty to forty points, this game is probably a lot closer than it was.”

“I thought everybody just played really hard, with a lot of energy. I think they respected Parkland more after losing to them, and they came out really ready to play.”

The Lynx were lead in scoring by sophomore Kyle Jacobs with 19 points, followed by sophomore Brandon Alexander with 15. Littrel’s 14 point performance was followed by Keaton, who finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. Sophomore Shawn Bridgewater also finished in double figures for the Lynx with 12. Parkland was lead by Matt Neaville with 21 points.

After enjoying the comforts of home last week, the Lynx face perhaps their biggest challenge of the season as they travel to Lewis and Clark Community College in a conference showdown Wednesday night. Lewis and Clark is ranked No. 9 in NJCAA Division II, trails the Lynx by one game in Midwest Athletic Conference play, and took the Lynx to double overtime before falling short on January 23rd. 

“That’s a super-huge game for us,” said McCullum. “They showed they can play with us here in the double-overtime game, and they are 10-2 at home this season. They’ll come in ready to play, being behind us only a game, so we have to come ready to play as well.”

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