Box Score

Jefferson City, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University men's basketball team fell in an overtime heartbreaker at Lincoln on Wednesday evening 96-91. With the loss, SBU drops to 10-17 (5-16 MIAA) on the season.

The first half opened up with a quick pace, as both teams came out shooting the ball well. With a 6-4 lead with 17:52 left in the first half, the Bearcats went on a small 5-1 run capped off by a Brian Patterson three to take an 11-5 lead. However, LU fought right back by using an 8-0 run to take a two point lead (13-11) before Kai Woodfall connected on a three to give SBU the lead back. Scoring went back-and-forth for the next five minutes as the teams were tied 22-22 with 10:01 remaining in the half.

SBU connected on back-to-back three's from Nate Nahirny and Andy Campbell to go up 28-22, and after an LU basket, Andy Campbell hit another three to increase the SBU lead to 31-24. A pair of free throw by Kalehl Brown gave SBU their largest lead of the evening (33-25) before the Blue Tigers responded with an 11-0 run as SBU trailed 36-33 with 4:08 left in the half. The Blue Tigers held a small lead for the remainder of the half as SBU went into the break trailing 42-40.

Coming out of the half a layup from Woodfall quickly tied the game at 42-42, but LU pushed their lead back to four (48-44) with 17:00 left in regulation. The Blue Tigers continued to hold that advantage, and pushed it to seven (60-53) with 10:39 left in the second half, before SBU responded. Kalehl Brown connected on two buckets, coupled with a Woodfall free throw, to cut the LU lead to two (60-58) with 8:04 remaining in regulation.

After LU pushed their lead back to five again, the Bearcats came back with an 8-1 run fueled by three's from Cartier Dean and Woodfall, to take a 66-64 lead with 5:29 to go. After holding a three point lead, Woodfall hit another three, giving the Bearcats a 73-67 lead with 3:13 remaining. The Bearcats held the six point lead after a pair of free throws from Woodfall with 1:36, but sharp shooting from long range for the Blue Tigers down the stretch forced overtime at an 83-83 tie.

In the overtime period, the Blue Tigers jumped ahead early and led by four (88-84) with 3:10 remaining before another Woodfall three cut the deficit to one (88-87) with 2:56 to go. However, Lincoln would hit free throws down the stretch as the Bearcats came up just short in the 96-91 overtime loss.

Kai Woodfall led SBU with a career high 23 points to go along with six rebounds, while Andy Campbell (14), Cartier Dean (14), Kalehl Brown (11), and Logan Hovey (10) were all in double-figures. As a team SBU shot 54.7% from the field, 56.5% from beyond the arc, and 74.1% from the free throw line.

SBU will return to action on Saturday, February 27 when they travel to #15 Northwest Missouri in their final game of the 2015-16 season. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. from Maryville, Missouri.