A shot at the buzzer came up just short as the Lincoln Christian Crusaders defeated the Wahoo Warriors 75-73 in the first round of the Bishop Neumann Holiday Tournament.

Wahoo got off to a good start. Consecutive baskets from Sean Lindgren, Jake Barry and Greg Milliken put Wahoo up 13-6. Five consecutive turnovers from Wahoo allowed Lincoln Christian to go on an 8-0 run to end the quarter up 14-13.

The Warriors regained the lead in the second quarter and led 19-16 after a Josh Discher basket; however, the Crusaders would score on eight consecutive baskets midway through the period and an Andre Orduna trey to end the half put Christian up 38-27 at halftime.

A Ben Manley bucket gave Christian its biggest lead of the game at 13, 40-27 to open the half. The Warriors would then begin to chop away at the lead. A 10-1 run to end the quarter, which included the final two buckets from Discher and Cole Barry tied the game up at 43 heading into the final quarter. Wahoo forced 10 Lincoln Christian turnovers in the third quarter.

The game was still tied at 48, when Jake Barry gave Wahoo its first lead since the first quarter at 50-48. A 7-0 run for Christian put them back up at 55-50. After an Austin Mathers driving bucket, Chistian led 61-52. A free throw from Jake Barry followed by a Discher basket cut the lead to 61-55.

A minute later, a conventional three point play from Max Cook cut the lead to 63-60. Christian then extended the lead back to 9 at 71-62 with 1:15 left in the game. Discher hit two free throws with 1:00 minute left to make it 71-64. Following an Mather free throw, Milliken scored to make it 72-66 with 44 seconds left. A Christian turnover followed by another Discher basket made it 72-68 with 30 seconds left. Another Christian turnover led to a Max Cook trey to make it 72-71 with 20 seconds left.

Mathers then broke loose and scored on a conventional three point play with 14 seconds left to make it 75-71. A Max Cook drive and basket cut the lead to 75-73 with 4 seconds left. Jake Barry then stole the ball at mid-court and the Warriors had one final shot at the buzzer that did not go, and allowed Christian to escape at 75-73.

"Lincoln Christian has a very good team. Austin Mathers is a terrific player that we could not stop. I am very proud of our kids’ efforts tonight and their resiliency. They never stopped fighting and competing. Things looked pretty bleak a couple of times, but these kids would not quit, and you cannot ask for any more than that. There are many things that you can point to that we need to do better, but these kids really play hard," said Head Coach Kevin Scheef.

Discher led four Warriors in double figures with 17 points. Jake Barry contributed 15. Milliken had 13 points, and Max Cook had 12. Cole Barry and Lindgren each added 8 points. Mathers led Lincoln Christian with 33.

Jake Barry led Wahoo with 11 boards, and Discher added 10, as the Warriors out-rebounded the taller Crusaders 34-25. Milliken had 7 steals, Jake Barry added 4 steals, and Cole Barry led Wahoo with 4 assists.

Wahoo falls to 4-2 and will face Nebraska City in the Consolation game of the Holiday Tourney tomorrow. Lincoln Christian improves to 6-0.