Lincoln 103, Anderson 69: Lincoln handily won this track meet, breaking the century mark,putting 5 different players in double figures, and generally stuffing the stat sheet. PG John Burns was the MVP with 16 points and an amazing 11(!) steals. SG Eric Brown came off the bench to lead Lincoln with 19. Peter Devito dished out 7 of Lincolns 27 assists and Todd Sansone and Vincent Peet each had 10 boards.
Michael McBride led all scorers with 27 points for Anderson. But the difference in this game was Lincoln's superior depth compared to Anderson. Four of Anderson's top 7 players fouled out, and two more had 4 fouls. Walkons played 16 minutes once the game got out of hand. Anderson enjoyed a +10 advantage on the boards, but couldn't handle 30 turnovers and 51 Lincoln free throw attempts.
N Alabama 84, Lees-McRae 79: N Alabama pulls off the upset of ranked Lees-McRae. Darnell Lesher led N Alabama with 22, but PG Wendell Comeaux was the MVP pairing 19 points with 8 assists. Bigmen William Hogan and Augustus Ziller provided inside punch, chipping in 11 & 10 respectively. Lees-McRae had a balanced attack, with all starters scoring between 9 and 13 points, led by C Ron Griffin's 13.
This was a game of two halves. Lees led by 10 at halftime due through smart and efficient play. They were just the better team in the first half and only allowed 4 FT attempts to jump shooting N Alabama. But the tables turned in the second half. Lees-McRae went ice cold and N Alabama came out of the locker room with a purpose. ( The refs also came out with a purpose, whistling home team Lees-McRae for 16 fouls in the half.) N Alabama clawed their way back into the game, finally taking the lead on a Wendell Comeaux 3-pointer with 0:34 remaining. N Alabama went 4 of 8 from 3 and 21 of 25 from the FT line in the 2nd half. Comparatively, Lees McRae went 1 of 8 and 9 of 15.
W Alabama 76, Mount Olive 64: W Alabama pounded it inside all day on Mount Olive to earn a 12 point win. Three W Alabama bigmen chalked up double-doubles: Kenneth Temple (21 & 10), James Stedman (14 & 10), and Dexter Clayton (10 & 11). They also fouled out Mount Olive's starting big men. Mount Olive's trio of Thomas, Hutchinson & Sprenger each had 15, but N Alabama scored at a 53% clip. Mount Olive held a 1 point lead at half, but N Alabama ground them down in the final 20 minutes. N Alabama outrebounded Mount Olive 43-28.
The Heartland jumps out to a 3-0 advantage.