Washington, DC—November 10—Calvin Thompson scored a team-high 21 points and Anton Dickerson added 14 off the bench, but it was not enough as Howard University fell, 68-62 to Lincoln University in the season opener at Burr Gymnasium.

The Bison (0-1) got off to a slow start, but they rallied to take a 32-24 lead to the locker room.  Howard was able to establish the lead by holding the visitors to 26 percent shooting and converting its free throws (13 of 14).

But the Lions chipped away at the Howard lead in the second half and used a 25-16 run led, by Derrick Washington to take the lead for good at 49-48.  From there, Lincoln knocked down their free throws to hold off the Bison.

"The bottom line is that we did not get it done against a hungry, scrappy team," said a disappointed head coach Kevin Nickelberry.  "We built a double digit leads a couple of times but we didn't take advantage of it."

Howard hurt itself with turnovers, committing 12 that Lincoln converted into 19 points.

Senior forward Mike Phillips just missed a double-double with 13 points and 9 rebounds in a losing effort.

"This adversity will show us who we are the rest of the year," said Nickelberry.

The Lions (1-0) were led by Will Cole who recorded a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds and George Jackson and Kenny Sharpe and Washington, who added 15, 12 and 11, respectively.

The Bison travel to Ames City, IA to take on the University of Iowa on Thursday in the first round of the Cancun Classic.