For the first time since Dec. 20, Live Oak finds itself in the win column.
The Acorns survived a late rush by Lincoln to win 46-42.
“We did a lot of good preparation for this team, watching film, trying to fix our mistakes — which I thought we made a lot of mistakes — we talked about those things and made some certain adjustments on defense tonight, so yeah, I’m real happy with the outcome,” said coach Brett Paolucci.
Luke Laguna put up 22 points in the win, including a key 3 pointer to give Live Oak a five-point lead inside of a minute left to play and a free throw that clinched the win with six seconds remaining.
“We had two really good out of bounds plays, one for Kalum (Bergstrom) — he finished at the rim — and basically the same play where I got to step out and shoot the 3,” Laguna said.
When Live Oak sank the 3, Lincoln charged down the floor, and sank a short-range shot and the Acorns were called for a foul.
The free throw would have pulled Lincoln within two, but the shot missed and the Lions were forced into a foul game, with three to give.
Live Oak wasn’t able to advance the ball past the time line, but it didn’t matter as Lincoln ran out of fouls and eventually sent Laguna to the line.
Laguna hit the front end of a one-and-one with six seconds remaining to put his team up by four. His second shot missed, but it didn’t matter with the Acorns leading by four.
“Thank God we got the ball to him, he’s our best free throw shooter. He hits the highest percentage of free throws,” Paolucci said. “Getting that one free throw was key, because that sealed it right there.”
Still Bergstrom pulled down the rebound and let the clock ran out.
That last sequence was also done without a true point guard on the floor. Live Oak’s point man Ryan Rupp had been injured going up for a basket earlier in the quarter and had to come out with a little more than two minutes to play.
But before he did, he hit two key free throws that gave Live Oak the lead for good.
“He was driving, he was finishing (and) that was big. Finishing some of those shots there in the game. That was good. That was something we had been emphasizing,” Paolucci said.
Rupp finished with nine points for the game.
Bergstrom followed with seven.
Live Oak had a chance to put the game away early in the fourth quarter, but turnovers allowed Lincoln to hang around.
The Acorns committed six turnovers in the fourth quarter after having committed just eight for the rest of the game, allowing the Lions to erase a five-point deficit and tie the game at 38-all.
“That was the troubling thing because we hadn’t been in that situation in a while with the game on the line and we had to hit free throws, we had to execute and take care of the ball,” Paolucci said. “I think we could have done a better job at taking care of the ball, but when we got our opportunities to score, we did so.”
Paolucci was also happy with the rebounding down the stretch, as Live Oak out rebounded Lincoln 8-4 in the fourth quarter and 15-10 for the second half.
The game was tightly contested the whole way, with neither team taking larger than a six-point lead at any one time.
“We knew No. 3 was going to shoot; we knew the offense was going to go through him,” Paolucci said. “Luke did a great job playing defense on him.”
The game was a back and forth affair for most of the way, with neither team taking more than a six-point lead.
Lincoln opened things with the first five points before Live Oak had a pair of buckets from Laguna, including a triple.
The Acorns outscored the Lions 12-4 after giving up the first five points.
In the second quarter, Live Oak got the lead up to six before Lincoln started to come back.
The Lions eventually took a 19-17 lead late in the quarter and held the lead going to the final seconds of the half.
Laguna then hit a reverse lay up at the buzzer to send the game into the locker room tied at 23 all.
Tanner Howard proved a big presence in the first half, pulling down five boards and finished with seven for the night.
Early in the third quarter, Lincoln hit a pair of free throws to take a one-point lead, but it was the last lead the Lions held for the rest of the game.
Live Oak went on a 6-0 run to go up 30-25 and never looked back.
Live Oak will next take on Silver Creek on the road 7 p.m. Friday, looking to possibly make it two in a row.
