MADISON REIBER
reibermj@lopers.unk.edu
UNK basketball experienced an up and down week losing at bottom-dweller Lincoln University 60-52 and then rebounded with a 78-74 victory against Central Missouri.
“I thought it was a good bounce-back win for us,” Soucie said. “We were shorthanded because AJ wasn’t able to play but we had guys step up off the bench and really help us. It’s always good to get a split whenever we are on the road.”
Not letting the defeat from the previous game get them down, the Lopers put on an inspiring performance with senior leader AJ Jackson (Bellevue, Nebraska) on the bench.
After his incredible performance against Lincoln, he was unable to play in this game due to an injury.
After the first half, UNK trailed by just one point going into the locker room by a score of 37-36.
In the second half, the Lopers came out with a little more gumption, outscoring the Mules by five points.
Two huge performances put up by Jake Walker (Centerville, Utah) and Morgan Soucie (Osawatomie, Kansas). Walker scored 25 points tying his career-high. Soucie came in right behind him scoring 24 points and nine rebounds.
Against Lincoln, the Lopers trailed at the end of the first half 28-25.
UNK battled to the bitter end matching Lincoln U’s efforts with both teams scoring 36 points in the second half.
Senior Jackson brought forth a tremendous effort leading the team with 19 points and five rebounds.
“Personally, I could have played better, I had some opportunities to finish around the rim and didn’t convert.” said Jackson. “As a team, we were trying to play catch up from the tip, Lincoln set the tone from the beginning and basically controlled the game until the end. We need to focus on our identity being a mentally tough gritty team for 40 minutes instead of 20 or 30 minutes.”
Other contributors in the game, were Chase Winchester (DeSoto, Texas) and Morgan Soucie with 10 points. Kyle Juhl (Harlan, Iowa) chipped in eight.
“We were unable to carry the momentum from the previous weekend,” said coach Kevin Lofton. “Last week we were defending the home court and this week Lincoln was. We struggled in certain areas and didn’t execute plays.”
The Lopers face Northeastern State Hawks on Feb. 20 here at the Health and Sports Center.
