Boxscore
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – Saint Augustine's College gained a much-needed victory on Thursday.
Joel Kindred (Fr./Raleigh, N.C.) scored 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting to give the Falcons a 58-46 road win over Lincoln (Pa.) at Rivero Hall in the CIAA opener for both teams. The Falcons improved to 2-7 overall, but more importantly, are 1-0 in the CIAA.
Terell Burgess (Sr./Syracuse, N.Y.) produced the first double-double of his two-year career – 11 points and 12 rebounds – to aid the Falcons. The point and rebound totals were career highs for Burgess. Jon Kindred (Soph./Raleigh, N.C.) chipped in 9 points, and Keith McAllister (Jr./Queens, N.Y.) added seven points.
Head Coach Ken Spencer says the win was huge for his young team. Playing on the road in their first CIAA contest, the Falcons faced a daunting task but were up for the challenge.
“It was a total team effort,” Spencer said. “This is how we have to play to be competitive in games.”
The Falcons reversed several trends to grab the win. They outrebounded their opponent (36-30) for the second time this season, and held the Lions (1-7) to 27 percent shooting, a season-low for the Falcons.
The Falcons also started fast which enabled them to stay ahead. Though things got hairy at times, the Falcons led entire game.
“We finally got off to a good start,” said Spencer, whose club snapped a seven-game losing streak. “In previous games, we got off to terrible starts and ended up losing. Lincoln made runs at us but we made key plays down the stretch.”
Joel Kindred, a talented guard, scored 10 of has 18 first-half points in the first four minutes to put the Falcons up 12-0. Kindred recorded three slam dunks in the half but the Lions climbed back within 27-24 at halftime.
In the second half, Denzel Mooney of Lincoln heated up, scoring 12 of his game-high 24 points. Burgess countered by scoring all 11 of his points in the second stanza. He scored six straight points including a layup with 2:09 remaining for a 55-41 lead. McAllister also came up big in the second half, scoring all seven of his points.
“After our preseason, to come on the road and win a conference game is big,” Spencer said. “We had to win the battle of the boards and play a decent game defensively and that's what we did.”
The Falcons will look to build on the win Saturday when they host Saint Paul's College at Emery Gymnasium in a CIAA contest. Game time is 4 p.m.
