Preview: Lincoln Lions vs. Tolman Tigers
Lincoln is 4-0 against Tolman since February of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Lincoln Lions will head out on the road to challenge the Tolman Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Lincoln sitting on ten straight victories and Tolman on five.
In what's become a running theme this season, Lincoln gave their fans yet another huge win last Monday. They blew past Middletown, posting a 81-47 victory at home. Given Lincoln's advantage in MaxPreps' Rhode Island basketball rankings (they are ranked second, while Middletown is ranked 29th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lincoln's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Joshua Bergeron, who scored 22 points. Camden Dichiara was another key contributor, scoring 21 points.
Meanwhile, Tolman beat Middletown 55-47 on Friday.
Tolman's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Daniel Saulsby, who scored 16 points along with six rebounds. Saulsby has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Malik Gelinas, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Lincoln pushed their record up to 10-0 with that win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 81.8 points per game. As for Tolman, their victory bumped their record up to 11-1.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Lincoln and Tolman are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Lincoln hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 80 points per game. However, it's not like Tolman struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 67.8 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Everything went Lincoln's way against Tolman in their previous meeting back in December of 2023 as Lincoln made off with a 80-57 win. Will Lincoln repeat their success, or does Tolman have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.