February 19, 2022 | by Nate Croswell

LEAD

LINCOLN, Ill. -- The Sabercats battled but were overwhelmed in the final stretch in an 84-60 loss to Lincoln Christian.

Noah Jensen led the offense with 13 points off the bench.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 60-84 Lincoln Christian
• Venue: Gaston Arena, Lincoln Christian University
• Location: Lincoln, Ill.
• Attendance: -
• Records: MBU (5-19), LCU (9-18)

STORY

Neither team jumped out to the lead early on, proven by the fact that it took three possessions for Lincon to score the first basket. The Red Lions would run out to a five-point lead, but Maranatha came up with some clutch defensive plays to keep the score within five for fifteen minutes before they tied it up at 27-27. Just as soon as that happened, Lincoln started to retake the lead again and forced the Sabercats to call a timeout. By the break, Lincoln had grabbed their largest lead of the game with a seven-point gap at 37-30. Noah Jensen pitched in with 11 points off the bench to lead the first-half scoring.

As they returned from the break, the Sabercats continued to battle, even tying it back up just a minute into the half. Twice more they would tie the score, even doing so and taking the lead at four minutes in on a Caleb Moultrie And-One. At twelve minutes remaining, Lincoln called a timeout and came back to the floor with a fire that propelled them to take a 13-point lead within five minutes. That timeout shifted the momentum to Lincoln's favor, and the Red Lions went on to shut down the Sabercats' offense the rest of the way to defeat Maranatha 84-60.

In the loss, Jensen led the scoring with 13 points off the bench, while three other Sabercats (Aaron Sanders, Caleb Moultrie, and Malachi Herbster) each scored 12.

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Maranatha Starters: 3- Mayhak, 5- Sanders, 13- Caldwell, 21- Moultrie, 24- Herbster // Lincoln Christian starters: 3- Williams, 11- Baker, 15- Donaldson, 21- Gathings, 43- Cook

STATS

• Jensen: 13 PTS, 3 REB
• Sanders: 12 PTS, 3 AST, 2 STL
• Moultrie: 12 PTS, 9 REB
• Herbster: 12 PTS, 3 REB, 2 STL
• Last time: Lincoln Christian defeated Maranatha 73=70 on January 25
• Series: Maranatha leads the all-time series against Lincoln Christian 27-17

OPPONENTS

• Lincoln Christian competes in the Continental Athletic Conference (NAIA)
• Lincoln Christian competes in the NCCAA DI and used to compete with Maranatha in the NCCAA DII Midwest region

NEXT

The Sabercats begin the NCCAA DII North Region tournament against Moody on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. Follow at mbusabercats.com/schedule.