An exciting North v. South battle is about to be fought. The Lincoln North Star Navigators will take on the Lincoln Southeast Knights at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Lincoln North Star comes in on four and Lincoln Southeast on three.
Lincoln North Star not only won on Monday, but they posted their biggest win since January 29th. Everything went their way against Kearney as Lincoln North Star made off with a 68-47 win. The Navigators have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 21 points or more this season.
Lincoln North Star's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but J'Shawn Afuh led the charge by going 7-for-12 on his way to 17 points. Another player making a difference was Sam Schaefer, who made all 5 shots he took racking up 14 points.
Lincoln North Star was working as a unit and finished the game with 19 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Lincoln Southeast beat Lincoln Northeast 52-47 on Monday.
Lincoln Southeast's win came from a few key players Lincoln North Star will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Prospedi Mukendi, who shot 50% from the field en route to 12 points and eight rebounds. Mike Ngoyi was another key player, putting up 11 points.
Lincoln Southeast's victory bumped their record up to 16-8. As for Lincoln North Star, they pushed their record up to 20-5 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Lincoln North Star has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.2 boards per game. However, it's not like Lincoln Southeast struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.2 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Lincoln North Star couldn't quite finish off Lincoln Southeast in their previous matchup back in December of 2024 and fell 50-47. Can Lincoln North Star avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
