The Griffons men scored just 28 points in the second half falling 66-63 against the Lincoln Blue Tigers on Saturday afternoon. TJ Johnson led the Griffons with 23 points as Western falls to 6-7 overall and 1-6 in MIAA play.
The first half started slow for the Griffons getting down 7-0 and 15-8 in the first eight minutes of action. Western got going the three minutes of play tying the score at 15 after a layup by TJ Johnson with 9:19 to play. Western kept up the pressure closing the half on a 20-9 run claiming the 35-24 lead at the break.
The Griffons dominated the points in the paint outscoring Lincoln 26-to-12. They also scored 15 points on 10 Lincoln turnovers. Johnson led all scorers with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Western made 15-of-36 shots for 41.7-percent.
The Blue Tigers shot just 38.5-percent (10-26) from the floor with Terrell Williams and Jimmy Payton each scoring seven points. Five other Blue Tigers scored two points.
Things looked good for the Griffons early in the second half as they took a ten point lead at 46-36 with 14:44 to play in the game. The rest of the half would be a struggle offensively as they scored just 17 points.
The Blue Tigers took their first lead at 51-50 of the second half after a Terrell Williams layup with 9:42 to play. Western was able to take a four point lead at 58-54 with 5:56 to play after a good free throw from Johnson.
The rest of the way the Blue Tigers outscored the Griffons 12-5 with James Edmond hitting a three point basket with four seconds to play giving Lincoln their second road victory of the season. The Blue Tigers improve to 2-10 overall and 2-5 in MIAA play.
The Griffons finished shooting just 39.1-percent (25-64) from the field but did outscore the Blue Tigers in the paint 38-to-30.
The Blue Tigers shot 46.4-percent (26-56) from the field with Cedric Ridle and Terrell Williams scoring 16 and 14 points respectively. Ridle also snared eight rebounds.
The Griffons return home on Wednesday, January 11 to take on the Truman State Bulldogs in MIAA action. Game time is set for 7:30 pm from the MWSU Fieldhouse. This will mark the third game of a three game home stand for the Griffons. If you can make the game listen to all the action on 680 AM KFEQ.
— MWSU Sports Information —