The Lincoln County boys ran their record to 9-8 on the season Saturday night, beating Louisville Eastern 68-62 after a closely contested game in the Patriot Classic at LCHS.

Spencer Baird led Lincoln in the win with 16 points. Blake Smith followed with 13 points and Chase Phillips added 11. 

Lincoln edged ahead in the first quarter, outscoring Eastern 5-0 in the closing minute. Sawyer Carrier converted on a three-point play and Baird sank two free throws late to nose the Patriots ahead 9-8.

Eastern (6-9) would own the lead at the half, though, taking a 28-26 lead into the break.  Ethan Coury, who led the Eagles with 18 points, was 4-for-9 from 3-point range and tallied all four treys in the first half. Jacob Robinson, who finished with 15 points, pushed in over half of his points in the first half.

The Eagles posted their biggest lead of the night, 39-31, in the third quarter but it would be the Patriots on top at the end of the period, outscoring Eastern 20-17 to go up 46-45.

Lincoln never trailed again, closing on a 22-17 run for the win.

A 10-3 run in the fourth quarter gave the Patriots’ their largest lead of the night. Phillips opened the run with a bucket, Elijah Frye and Blake Smith sank two free throws each, Smith then followed with a field goal and Phillips closed with two free throw tosses for the 66-57 margin.

Lincoln pushed in 53 percent of its shot attempts in the game, going 19-for-36 overall, 4-for-15 from 3-point range. The Patriots boosted their score big time at the foul line, sinking 26 of 32 free throw attempts.

Eastern was at 42 percent overall from the field, connecting on 24 of 57 shot attempts, 8 of 22 from 3. At the line, the Eagles were 6-for-14.

Lincoln outrebounded Eastern 32-22, led by Riley Bodner’s game-high 14 boards. Baird had five rebounds. Myles Goodrich and Ben Craig led Eastern with five boards each.