LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA – The Virginia State Men's Basketball has hit a bit of a rough patch in their season after shooting a season-low 3-of-16 from deep led to the squad taking their third loss in the loss in the last four games to the Lions of Lincoln (Pa.) 62-54. Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald scored 18 points and is one-point shy from scoring his 1,000^th point in a Trojans uniform.

 
First Half
Both teams struggled to take the lid off the basket as the score was just 8 all with 11:38 left in the first half. That being said, the Trojans would find the bottom of the bucket going up five points with a 5-0 run. While the Lions were able to cut the lead to one, Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald hit a three-pointer which mad the score 18-14 with five minutes left in the first half. With 1:27 left in the first half, the Lions went up by a pair following a three-pointer. The Trojans came back and tied it up at 22 heading into the halftime break.
 

Second Half
The lead changed four times before the Lions were able to make the score 29-26 with 16:19 left to go in the contest. With 12:30 left, the Lions were able to extend their lead to six points which was their largest lead of the game. After scoring seven straight points, the Lions extended their lead to 37-29. The Lions would go on an 8-0 run to make the score 45-32 with 8:24 left in the contest. The Trojans showed tremendous fight down the stretch going on an 8-1 run to make the score 54-49 following a jumper from Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald. While the Trojans were able to cut the lead down to just six, the Lions were able to fend off the Trojans comeback attempts with the final score being 62-54.
 
Team Statistics
The Trojans were ice cold from beyond the arc shooting a season-low 3-of-16 (18.8%) from beyond the three-point arc. The Lions were able to outrebound the Trojans 41-35. The Trojans were however active on defense forcing 19 turnovers which led to 13 steals, the only problem was that the Trojans had 17 turnovers themselves. The Trojans were, however, able to outscore the Lions bench 26-13. The Trojans committed 26 fouls which led to the Lions shooting 23-of-30 (76.7%) from the foul line. The squad shot 17-of-51 (33.3%) from the field and 17-of-25 (68.0%) from the free throw line. The Lions were held to an identical 17-of-51 (33.3%) from the filed and 5-of-19 (26.3%) from beyond the arc.
 

Stat Leaders
Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald scored 18 points off the bench in the contest which led to him being just one-point away from his 1,000^th point as a Trojan. Fitzgerald shot 5-of-11 (45%) from the field and 2-of-5 (40%) from deep. He also grabbed six rebounds, dished on assist, accounted for a block and came away with a pair of steals. Zach Newkirk posted 10 points along with a pair of rebounds, a block and a steal in the contest. Terrence Hunter-Whitfield was pretty cold scoring just 10 points on 5-of-12 (41.6%) from the field with four boards, an assist and two steals. Tremere Brown scored six points and grabbed six rebounds with a block and a steal. Stephon Roberts scored four points and grabbed four boards along with an assist and two steals.

Up Next
The Trojans will head down to Bowie, MD to take on the Bulldogs of Bowie State on January 28 at 3:00 p.m. The contest will be broadcasted live on the CW Richmond.