BOLIVAR, MO –
Damonta Henry opened his senior season in style, scoring a team-high 23 points for the University of Mary in an 83-71 Marauders loss to Lincoln (MO) University in the opening game of the SBU Classic.
Henry, who surpassed 750 career points in the game, hit a trey to open the scoring for the Marauders and made 8-of-13 shots from the floor. He also had a team-high three 3-pointers and made all four of his free throw attempts while falling just two points shy of his career-best.
The Marauders led by as many as seven points in the second half but couldn't contain the Blue Tigers back court combo of Jaylon Smith and Anthony Virdure, who combined for 55 points for the MIAA opponent that outpaced Mary 52-38 after intermission.
"We played well for 30 minutes but after the 10 minute media timeout they (Lincoln) just wanted it more," said Marauders head coach
Joe Kittell. "They got to more loose balls and grabbed more offensive rebounds. They also pressured us into some catastrophic turnovers. Now we need to regroup and get ourselves together for tomorrow's game."
Mary led 33-31 at intermission after
Isaac Lindquist took a
Pat Thomas feed and went hard to the basket for a layup with three seconds remaining.
Bryan Jefferson, limited at times by fouls, opened the second half by scoring the Marauders first six points. A three from Henry and a pair of Lindquist free throws pushed the Mary advantage to 47-40 with just under 16 minutes to play.
Eventually the Blue Tigers clawed their way to a 55-55 tie on a Smith 3-pointer. Lincoln took its first lead since midway in the first half on a Virdure layup with 9:58 on the clock and remained ahead for the rest of the game.
Jefferson posted 15 points for the Marauders and hauled down three rebounds. Ricky Suggs registered 11 points off the bench and added six rebounds. Lindquist chipped in nine points and
Trevor Zacher added eight points and six rebounds. Thomas led Mary with four assists and three steals.
Smith paced all players with 33 points and nine rebounds for Lincoln. He was 6-of-10 behind the arc and 13-of-27 overall. Virdure recorded 22 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Lincoln held a 38-32 rebounding edge, including a 13-7 advantage on the offensive boards that led to the Blue Tigers outpacing the Marauders 20-4 in second chance points. LU also had a 19-12 edge in points off turnovers; 14-4 in the second half.
Mary next faces Southwest Baptist University, the host of the SBU Classic, at 4 pm on Saturday, Nov. 12.
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