LINCOLN --It's tough to win on Colors Day when the opponent shoots double the number of free throws as the home team.
West Fork attempted 28 free throws, twice as many charity shots as Lincoln was awarded. Twenty-two of the Tigers' points, nearly a third of their total, came at the foul line. West Fork used a 17-3 run in the third quarter to take the lead, then held off Lincoln 68-63 in 3A-1 boys basketball Friday.
Despite holding the lead much of the first half and the first 6:09 of the third quarter, the Wolves remain searching for a conference win. Lincoln led 40-37 on Bryson Karber's 3-pointer, but suddenly went cold.
Timothy Howerton beat his man off the dribble, then hit a trey to push the Tigers into their first lead since 9-7. Jace Birkes scored for Lincoln cutting the lane to knot the score at 42-42. West Fork scored 12 of the next 13 points and built a 54-43 lead on Jacob Cravens' bucket over a shorter defender with 5:02 remaining in the fourth.
The Tigers led 61-40 on a Jackson Blansett feed from Kole Pennington at the 2:53 mark.
Lincoln sliced its deficit to four on a Kayden Job free throw, Birkes field goal, and Kase Ingram's steal and lay-in.
The Wolves tried to press, but Pennington beat them for an easy basket. Lincoln missed the front end of a 1-and-1, couldn't convert a 3-point play and went 1-for-2 at the line in two other opportunities in the final two minutes. West Fork sealed the game with Howerton knocking down a pair of foul shots that pushed the Tigers' lead back to 68-60. Karber's trifecta off an offensive rebound at the buzzer didn't affect the outcome and Lincoln absorbed a 5-point loss on Colors Day.
Lincoln held onto a 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and forged an 8-point advantage in the second. Job passed out of the post to Karber for an open three. Karber added another trifecta giving the Wolves a 23-15 lead with 2:27 remaining in the second quarter.
West Fork closed to within two, only to watch Lincoln again expand its lead. Karber turned a steal into an assist with Birkes sailing in for a layup. Drew Moore's jumper in the key gave Lincoln a 29-22 cushion, but Howerton's 3-pointer cut the lead to 29-25 at the half.
Karber scored 19 points for the Wolves, followed by Jace Birkes with 16 and Kayden Job with 9.
Howerton topped all scorers with 26 points. Erickson had 15 and Pennington added 13.
West Fork 68, Lincoln 63
West Fork^9^16^19^24^--^68
Lincoln^10^19^13^21^--^63
Lincoln (10-14, 0-9): Bryson Karber 6 3-3 19, Jace Birkes 8 0-1 16, Kayden Job 3 2-5 9, Drew Moore 3 1-2 7, Paxton Price 2 1-2 5, Kase Ingram 2 0-1 5, Tre Campbell 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 7-14 63.
West Fork (16-6, 7-2): Timothy Howerton 7 8-10 26, Cade Erickson 4 4-6 15, Kole Pennington 3 6-6 13, Jacob Cravens 3 2-4 8, Jackson Blansett 2 0-0 4, Camden Callahan 0 2-2 2. Totals 19 22-28 68.
3-Point Goals -- Lincoln 6 (Karber 4, Job, Ingram). West Fork 8 (Howerton 4, Erickson 3, Pennington).