The Lincoln Land Logger men's basketball team (1-1) fell to St. Louis Community College (4-0) at home on Wednesday evening, 81-74.

Lincoln Land tipped off the second of four straight home games to start the season, but the Archers of St. Louis Community College got the first bucket of the evening and never looked back. St. Louis built up a low double-digit lead in the first half, but the Loggers remained in touch, never letting STL get further away. The Loggers would cut the lead back to 5–7 points, and St. Louis would be able to respond to get it back to 10–12. Each time the Loggers got closer, St. Louis pulled back away. One instance of that loomed large was a stretch where, on four straight possessions, the teams traded scores, ending with Nate Moore knocking in a three to cut the score to 34-29 before the last media timeout of the half. With under 2:00 to go, the coaching staff challenged the Loggers that they had the opportunity to get back square going into the half. Unfortunately, St. Louis was able to "win" the last two minutes, knocking in two three-pointers and allowing the Loggers only two points. Instead of getting closer, the Loggers went into the half trailing 40-31.

St. Louis expanded on that advantage, adding two scores on their first two possessions, and now the Loggers again were in a double-digit hole. Lincoln Land was able to scrap back to trailing by only six at 46-40, but then LLCC played their worst stretch of the evening. St. Louis put together a 9-0 run to get up 15. Lincoln Land got one bucket before St. Louis went on a mini 4-0 run. The Loggers again got a couple of scores before another 5-0 Archers run gave St. Louis their largest lead of the game at 66-48.

Lincoln Land was able to push up their intensity and began to slowly cut into that 18-point deficit. Eighteen became 12, then 10, eventually under double digits. But each time the Loggers would put together a short run, St. Louis was able to respond with just enough scores to stay ahead. Lincoln Land cut the deficit by 13 and had one last golden opportunity when, trailing by 5, the Loggers got a one-and-one free throw opportunity. Unfortunately, the first shot missed the mark, and Lincoln Land was forced to play defense as the clock ticked down under 1:00, still trailing by 5. The Loggers got a stop but turned the ball over on the next possession. The Archers only split their free throws on the next two trips, but Lincoln Land was unable to get a bucket to take advantage. Eventually, the final horn sounded with St. Louis ahead 81-74.

Lincoln Land had nine scorers in the game, three in double digits. Freshman Keshaun Harlan led the Loggers in scoring with 12, joined in double figures with 11 by both Jean Piere-Villegas and freshman Jalen Ashley off the bench.

Although Lincoln Land shot 50% from the field and outshot St. Louis from the floor, the Loggers were out-rebounded by 11 and turned the ball over four more times. With those advantages, St. Louis got 16 more shots from the field. The Loggers were able to force more free throws but shot an abysmal 60%, going 18-30 on the game, including missing the first of four separate one-and-one opportunities — a stat that could have been the deciding factor.

Lincoln Land will remain home for game #3, taking on Carl Sandburg next Tuesday evening in Cass Gym.