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I work at the HSUS, and I’ve also worked at several animal shelters. Shelters do great work – ad...read more...

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HARRODSBURG – Mercer County learned Friday night that a comfortable double-digit lead – not even a 20-point cushion – guarantees an easy victory.

After dominating visiting Lincoln County for the first three quarters and building a 20-point lead, Mercer had to go to battle in the final frame to hold on for a 73-66 win.

Lincoln, which had struggled from the field through those first three quarters, finally got its shooting game on target in the fourth, whittling the 20-point Titan lead down to four over a span of 4 minutes and 22 seconds.

Zack Hill, who led all scorers with 23 points, ignited an 18-2 Patriot run with a third-quarter ending bucket. A succession of five straight Lincoln goals, two each from Dylan Allison and Colby Long and one from Hill, near the midway point of the fourth had Lincoln within 58-54.

Three-point baskets by Long and Trenton Edgington kept the margin at four, 67-63, with 1:02 to play, but Mercer’s Clay Cinnamon, Lyndon Compton and Aaron Lee combined for 6 of 8 free throws in the final minute to secure the win for the Titans.

“You have to compete against good teams. You have to come mentally and physically ready to play. The No. 1 key that we put on our scouting report tonight was ‘toughness,’ and we didn’t display that for three quarters,” said Lincoln coach Jeff Jackson. “They manhandled us, did anything they wanted to do for three quarters, and we didn’t respond on either end of the floor.”

Lincoln (13-8) was 15-for-41 (37 percent) from the floor in the first three quarters and went 10-for-19 in the fourth period. The Patriots committed 17 turnovers for the night, 15 in the first three quarters.

Mercer (16-7) shot 52 percent overall, 26-for-50, going 2-for-4 in the fourth quarter.

The Titans led 56-36 just before the end of the third, but Lincoln’s defense held Mercer to only one field goal in the first 4 minutes and 21 seconds of the fourth.

The Titans, who committed 21 turnovers, lost the ball seven times during Lincoln’s fourth-quarter rally, and the Patriots converted on six of the seven miscues to string together 12 unanswered points.

Long, who had 13 points for the Patriots, scored six of the 12 points in the run, including a finger roll off a steal to cut the Mercer lead to 58-54 with 3:44 to play.

“In the fourth quarter, I thought our effort was good. I though our intensity was good. I thought our toughness was good,” said Jackson.

The Lincoln mentor isn’t sure what happened to spark the Patriot rally.

“Maybe it was just enough is enough,” he said. “We’ve got to learn to compete for 32 minutes, and we did not tonight. We competed for eight.”

Mercer picked up just four points from the field in the final frame. The Titans sealed their fate with a 13-for-18 stint at the charity stripe.

Overall, Mercer was 18-for-26 from the line while Lincoln was 12-for-19.

Clay Cinnamon led Mercer in the victory with 22 points, including 12 first-quarter points as the Titans opened up a 20-9 lead.

“We were on our heels from right there, and it didn’t get any better for three quarters,” said Jackson. “We didn’t compete. We didn’t play hard. We didn’t defend. We didn’t do anything.”

Mercer led by as many as 18 points in the second quarter. Lincoln whittled a few points off the lead before the break, with Matt Cooper, who finished with 13 points, scoring off a Hill assist then Hill sinking two free throws for a 37-23 halftime score.

Four Patriots hit double figures in the loss, with Dylan Allison scoring 10 points.

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