CHEYNEY, Pa. – In front of a boisterous packed house inside Cope Hall, visiting Lincoln University used a 16-4 run to pull away for a 67-53 victory in the annual Battle of the First between HBCU rivals Monday night.
Sr. Basir Fulmore led the Wolves (2-18) with 13 points with four rebounds two steals and an assist. Carlton Allen paced the Lions (7-14) with 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
Lincoln jumped out to a 17-7 lead midway through a low scoring first half, Cheyney then responded with a 14-3 run to take a 21-20 advantage with 1:36 to play in the half.
Lincoln's James Richardson scored the final basket of the half to give the Lions a 22-21 edge after 20 minutes.
Fr. Mike Mohamed scored seven points to lead Wolves and Fulmore chipped in with six points and four rebounds. Cheyney went 9-of-10 from the free-throw line and So. Amir Boney was credited with three blocks. Richardson and Allen each recorded six points to pace the Lions, who held a 16-2 advantage in the paint.
Jr. Craig McGlond put the Wolves in front to open the second half, Allen then scored to give the Lions the lead for good and start an 11-2 run and take a 33-25 advantage with 14:05 to play.
A personal five-point run by Jr. Rafiq Marshall and a basket from Jr. Issac Bittle brought the Wolves within one at 37-36 at the 10:45 mark.
The Lions responded with seven straight to push the lead back to eight at 44-36 with 9:09 to play.
Jr Khaalis Carter cut the deficit to four with a three-pointer a basket from Blair Davis pushed it back to six and McGlond made two free-throws to make it a 51-47 Lions lead with 5:05 to play.
Lincoln closed with a 16-6 blitz to come away with the victory. Sean James came off the bench to connect on four three-pointers and 16 points.
Marshall scored 10 points, with five rebounds, four assists and two steals, Mohamed also scored 10, grabbed three rebounds and McGlond pulled down a team-high seven boards.
Cheyney returns to PSAC action on Wednesday at East Stroudsburg with an 8:00 start against the Warriors.
