BOYS BASKETBALL: North Star Upsets No. 5 Lincoln High In Low Scoring Game

LINCOLN–(KFOR Jan. 5)–Lincoln North Star relied on back to back scoring possessions to upset Class A No. 5 Lincoln High in boys basketball on Thursday night.

After the Links got their first lead of the game, the Navigators relied on 6-0 sophomore guard Lazerek Houston, whose transition basket with under 30 seconds left gave North Star the lead and following a Lincoln High turnover, sealed the game as time ran out on a put back off a missed layup for the Gator’s 51-48 win at The Swamp in a game heard on KFOR.

North Star (6-3), who had led from the first minute and 46 seconds of the game, saw their double-digit lead go down to three at the end of the third quarter after Lincoln High’s Collin Nick scored to close the deficit to 32-29.  Links reserve guard Elvis Nguyen came off the bench in the second half to score a team-high 14 points and banked in a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 32.

North Star managed to stretch their lead back up to six points late in the fourth quarter at 47-41 before Lincoln High rallied for a 7-0 run, which included a Vince Garrett three-pointer with 46 seconds left and Nguyen hitting both ends of a one-and-one free throw situation to give the Links their only lead at 48-47 with 40 seconds remaining.

Houston then capitalized on a transition basket to help North Star regain the lead.  The Links had a chance to go for the win but a turnover from Justin Bolis resulted in a steal for Gator guard Jordan Anderson, who missed a layup attempt but Houston followed up with the put back at the buzzer to seal the victory.

Lincoln High (8-2) struggled in the first half offensively, much to the credit of North Star’s zone defense.  The Links trailed 10-1 after the first quarter before trailing 21-9 at halftime.

North Star’s 6-8 senior forward Antallah Sandlin’el led all scorers with 17 points, while Houston added 16 points in the Gators’ victory.

Click the links below to hear the podcast of Thursday night’s game.

Lincoln High at Lincoln North Star boys basketball 1st Half
Lincoln High at Lincoln North Star boys basketball 2nd Half