East Lincoln lost against Lincolnton back in December of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Saturday. The East Lincoln Mustangs fell just short of the Lincolnton Wolves by a score of 69-67. That's two games in a row now that the Mustangs have lost by exactly two points.
East Lincoln's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Jaxon Dollar, who went 9 for 17 en route to 22 points plus seven rebounds and six assists, and Jackson Fannon, who went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 24 points plus five rebounds. The contest was Fannon's fifth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Grant Lawless, who posted ten points in addition to eight rebounds.
Even though they lost, East Lincoln was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Lincolnton only racked up six.
Leading Lincolnton to victory were LJ Smith IV and Tyler McClain. Smith IV dropped a double-double on 37 points and 11 rebounds, while McClain dropped a double-double on 23 points and 12 rebounds. With that strong performance, Smith IV is now averaging an impressive 8.5 rebounds per game.
This is the second loss in a row for East Lincoln and nudges their season record down to 2-2. As for Lincolnton, they pushed their record up to 3-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. East Lincoln will challenge East Gaston at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in East Lincoln's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points every time they've taken the court this season. As for Lincolnton, they will take on Shelby at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Lincolnton is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 69.8 points per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
