NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team lost to Lincoln University, 79-67, on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021 at James Moore Field House. With the loss, the Owls fall to 3-5 overall, while the Lions improve to 7-3.
Leo Chaikin (South Hero, Vt.) had a career-day for Southern, as he scored 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting to lead the Owls, while
Ulyen Coleman (Brockton, Mass.) scored 14 points and made three three-pointers.
Alex Lin (Hillsdale, N.J.) provided a spark off the bench in the second-half, as he scored 11 points, shot 4-of-7 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range, and blocked two shots.
How It Happened
First Half
- Southern started the game on fire, as they went up 20-11 with 13:37 remaining. The Owls shot 8-of-12 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range, and Lyron Bennett (Boston, Mass.) and Coleman scored six points each to lead Southern.
- Lincoln stormed back in the latter part of the first half, going on a 17-0 run to take a 28-20 lead, then increasing their lead to 40-28, their largest of the half, with 4:46 remaining. In total, Lincoln went on a 29-8 run that spanned over eight minutes.
- Southern was able to bring Lincoln's lead down to 10 heading into halftime, 44-34. Chaikin paced Southern's scoring in the first half with 10, and Southern shot 14-of-26 from the field and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Second Half
- Lincoln took their largest lead of the game, 56-41, with 14:28 remaining after they outscored Southern 12-7 to open the second half. Lin then caught fire for Southern, as he scored eight of Southern's next 10 points on three-pointers and a layup to cut the lead to nine.
- Aaron Russell (Bowie, Md.) made two free throws and Coleman scored on a layup in between a made shot from Lincoln, and Southern pulled within seven points, 62-55, with 7:30 remaining, but that would be the closest the score would get.
- After Lincoln went up by 12, Lin connected on another three-pointer to bring the lead back down to single-digits, but the Lions increased and held on to a double-digit point lead for the remainder of the game.
Notes
- Chaikin became the first Southern player to shoot at least 90 percent from the field and score at least 20 points since Tylon Smith shot a perfect 8-of-8 and scored 24 points on Feb. 11, 2012 against American International.
- Chaikin recorded his first double-digit scoring game of his career, and became the first Southern freshman with at least 20 points in a game since Bennett and Levar Allen both did so against Adelphi on Feb. 25, 2020.
- Coleman has scored at least 10 points in every game so far this season, and has made at least three three-pointers in four games.
- Bennett tied his career-high in steals with five, also done on Feb. 5, 2020 vs New York Tech.
- Lin, the Mercer County Community College transfer, recorded a new high in points scored in an Owls uniform with his 11 points.
- Waters blocked two shots, his third game this season with at least two blocked shots.
Up Next
Southern will play a non-conference games against Caldwell on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 7:00 p.m.
