BY CHAD DARE
DANVILLE — Lincoln sophomore Chris Ware left the NJCAA Division II National Tournament a year ago with a bitter taste in his mouth.
The Lynx came up one game shy of the playing for the national championship as they fell to the Kirkwood Eagles 76-58 in the 2009 semifinals.
He got that taste out of his mouth on Friday night as Lincoln advanced to the title game of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament with a 62-50 victory over Kirkwood at the Mary Miller Gymnasium.
“Yes, it’s gone,” Ware said. “It feels good to be going to the championship this year.”
The Lynx (29-6) beat the Eagles with hustle, heart and determination in the second half.
Lincoln held Kirkwood to just seven rebounds in the second half after the Eagles had 21 in the first half, including nine on the offensive end.
“That was the biggest deciding factor,” said Lincoln coach Kirk Whiteman, whose team outrebounded Kirkwood 38-28.
But according to freshman DeMarius Sumrell, it wasn’t just the rebounding.
“We just had to pick it up and work harder,” said Sumrell, who scored a game-high 20 points. “They outhustled us in the first half, so we had to get every rebound and every loose ball in the second half.”
The Eagles (27-8) didn’t shoot well in either half against the Lynx defense, but Kirkwood kept itself in the contest by scoring 10 second-chance points in the opening 20 minutes.
“Usually when we are not shooting the ball well, we make up for it with second-chance opportunities,’’ Kirkwood coach Doug Wagemester said. “We were so futile offensively … we never made a run and they beat us on the glass.
“We just weren’t good enough tonight. They were. They wore us down.’’
In the second half, Kirkwood managed just one basket and one free throw on its two second-chance opportunities.
“You saw what happened, when they got offensive rebounds in the first half, it killed us,” Whiteman said. “The one kid (Richie Thompson) was superman with five offensive rebounds.
“In the second half, we limited them on the offensive boards and it took away part of their offense.”
Ware and Kiel Turpin spent most of the first half on the bench with two fouls each, but Lincoln went on a 6-0 run in the final 90 seconds of the first half to tie the game at 27-27 heading into halftime.
“That was the stretch that I feel put us over the hump,” Whiteman said. “We were down by six and it could have opened up there. But, our guys had some resolve and we kept them from scoring.
“I went into the lockerroom and told them, ‘guys it’s 27-27 and they are killing us on the boards. Kiel and Chris haven’t played that much and it’s a tie ballgame.’ That’s all I needed to say to them and they came out in the second half and got the job done.”
Ware admitted that he and Turpin had to change their games.
“During the first half, I and my other big man (Kiel Turpin) decided they were flopping and the refs were buying it,’’ Ware said. “So, we decided to avoid the body and shoot hook shots and shoot over the defense — instead of trying to go through them.
“We had to play smarter rather than play more aggressive.’’
The change worked as Turpin and Wear combined for 16 second-half points, including seven during the Lynx 17-7 run to start the final 20 minutes.
But, Wear was quick to point out that his teammates like Sumrell were the ones that came up big in the first half.
Sumrell scored 13 of his game-high 20 in the first half.
“I love this team,’’ he said. “When one of us is down, there is always someone there to pick us up.’’
Whiteman said the Sumrell isn’t the greatest shooter, but he is simply a “gamer.”
“He hits big shots,’’ said the Lincoln coach. “That’s what he has done all year.’’
Another guy that Whiteman felt came up big in the first half was reserve forward Steve Hines.
“He gave us some good minutes while Chris and Kiel were on the bench,’’ Whiteman said. “He has been the unsung hero at times this season. He does the little things that allows those big guys to rest.
“I can speak volumes on what he provides to this team in terms of his energy level.’’
Joining Sumrell in double figures for the Lynx were Turpin with 11 and Kenyon Smith finished with 10.
Lincoln will face Cincinnati State in the NJCAA Division II National Championship at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
The Surge (27-8) advanced to the title game with 87-85 win over the Lewis & Clark Trailblazers.
Thompson led the Eagles with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Kaylon Williams had 13 in the losing cause.
