DANVILLE — There’s no question Lincoln College coach Kirk Whiteman was happy to win last year’s NJCAA Division II national championship. Like most teams, it was on the Lincoln Lynx’s list of goals for the season. But one thing was missing.

Through all of the excitement and the hype of winning, and fulfilling post game obligations to family and media, Whiteman never got to cut down the net.

So before Saturday’s championship game against the top-rated Mott Community College Bears, Whiteman made one request to his team.

“In our pregame I said, ‘Guys, Mott’s a very well-coached team, they’re very disciplined. But our schedule’s prepared us for this. All I want is one thing. I don’t ask much of you guys but what you should expect of yourself. Be on time, go to class. But I’m going to ask you to do something for me tonight. I didn’t get to cut down the net last year and I wanted to be able to do that. Let’s make sure that happens.’”

As typically is the case, the Lynx followed through with their coach’s request, and for the second year in a row, Lincoln was crowned national champions after knocking off Mott47-67.

The Lynx left little doubt as to whether or not they were deserving of this year’s title with a commanding start that had them leading the Bears by seven points two minutes, 33 seconds into the contest, extending their advantage to as many as 17 just moments into the second half, and ultimately never trailing.

Just as Lincoln never buckled under the pressure of repeating as national champs, it remained focused on completing its mission that began shortly after hoisting last year’s trophy.

“There was a lot of pressure at the beginning of the year, but we tried not to focus on the national title,” Lincoln sophomore DeMarius Sumrell said. “We had to take it step-by-step, game-by-game. Win conference, win regionals, and then think about this. That’s what we did, and we’re back-to-back national champions now. “

Sumrell (eight points, 11 rebounds, four assists), Tylon Deal (10 points, four assists), West Dawson (20 poitns, seven rebounds), Tony Frazier (10 points, and tournament MVP Kiel Turpin (19 points, seven rebounds, three blocks) did everything possible to band together and keep the Bears from ruining their title hopes.

“They had their championship game tonight,” Mott coach Steve Schmidt said. “They played at a championship level. We fell short of that. Our top players fell short of that. Those things happen. They happen in these types of games. We didn’t put two halves together.

“We didn’t play with the same intensity in the first half as we did in the second half. We might have had a better chance of winning. They’re not a one-dimensional team at all. Look at their numbers. They’ve got a lot of parts to their game and they played tremendously today. My thoughts are they are well-deserved national champion back-to-back. Nothing but respect for them.”

Demetrius Miller scored a team-high 16 points for Mott while Doug Anderson (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Mike Brigham (15 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three blocks) both recorded double-doubles in the loss.

Brigham, a former Danville High School standout, had a bittersweet homecoming after leaving the area for three years.

“It felt good to come back and play in front of everybody I haven’t seen in so long,” Brigham said. “It was a good feeling. But it hurts not being able to win it. But you know, I’m proud of everyone on the team this year. It was a great team effort. Maybe our freshmen will come back next year and be in the same spot but next year win it.”