LEAD

LINCOLN, Ill. -- The Sabercats' return to the wins column was put on further hold at Lincoln Christian.

With a 63-93 loss at LCU, Maranatha sustains their third straight loss and fall to 3-8 on the season.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 63-93 Lincoln Christian
• Venue: Gaston Arena, Lincoln Christian University
• Location: Lincoln, Ill.
• Attendance: 121
• Records: MBU (3-8), LCU (4-13)

STORY

The Sabercats cleaned up their possession a little but still turned it over 12 times in the opening half. Right out of the gate, LCU began to separate themselves with a 12-2 lead, and the defining difference between the two teams was shooting quality, as Lincoln Christian hit over half their looks in the opening 20 minutes while MBU went just over 40 percent.

Stephen Wilkerson tried to keep the Sabercats at pace by scoring 15 points in the first half alone, but the balance and sharing of the workload just wasn't there for MBU, who went into the locker room on the wrong side of a 34-53 scoreline.

Shooting-wise, things went from bad to worse for Maranatha, who connected just one out of every three shots in the second half. MBU tried to make up for it with a 13-15 free-throw performance, but the Red Lions were the better team on the night, closing out the 93-63 win on their home court. Wilkerson put up 21 points by the end of the night, and Aaron Sanders was the only other Sabercat to hit double digits with 12 points on the night.

With this loss behind them, the Sabercats will look forward to a stretch of home games that start next week.

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MBU Starters: 2- Ball, 3- Mayhak, 4- Steuerwald 5- Sanders, 23- Wilkerson 

STATS

• Wilkerson: 21 PTS, 6 REB
• Sanders: 12 PTS, 4 REB, 3 STL
• Taylor Ball: 7 PTS, 3 REB
• MBU: Out-rebounded LCU 38-31
• Last year: The Sabercats split the series with Lincoln Christian
• Series: Maranatha leads the all-time series, 26-15

OPPONENTS

• Lincoln Christian competes in the NAIA as an independent institution
• Lincoln Christian recently picked up wins over Emmaus Bible and Moody Bible
• Lincoln Christian competes in the NCCAA DI and used to compete in the Sabercats' NCCAA DII region

NEXT

The Sabercats will travel to Crown College on Saturday for a 3:15 p.m. tipoff, weather permitting. Stay current at mbusabercats.com/schedule.