The young Southeastern Community College basketball team took a leap forward Friday night after stumbling out of the gate against Lincoln (Ill.) College.

The Lynx jumped all over the BlackHawks, taking a 20-4 lead less than halfway through the first half. SCC, though, put things together after coach Terry Carroll called a timeout and held Lincoln to 38 points the rest of the game in a 70-58 triumph on the first night of the Pzazz Classic at Loren Walker Arena.

Kirkwood defeated Olney (Ill.) Central 86-56 in the first game. The Eagles play SCC in the late game tonight while the Blue Knights face Lincoln in the 5:30 p.m. contest.

The BlackHawks scored just two free throws and a bucket by Cecil Stinson in the first 10 minutes, 35 seconds of the game. In the meantime, they could not stop Lincoln. The Lynx scored four consecutive times down the floor and shot 42.9 percent in the half.

Carroll called a timeout at the 11:40 mark and the BlackHawks came back onto the floor 30 seconds later a different team.

"I said, 'Guys, we need to come out and start playing or this game's going to be over. We might as well just go in the locker room and call it a night and get ready for tomorrow if we don't start playing with intensity and emotion and some competitive heart, competitive spirit,'" Carroll said.

"He just came into the huddle, he calmed us down, talked to us real calm and told us we had to continue to swing the ball or else we're going to end up losing," freshman Marquez Davis said. "That's what we did. We came out in the second half and played real well like we've been doing. Just happy we came out and got this win today."

After the Lincoln offensive blitz early, the Lynx scored just 38 points from the 11:43 mark of the first half to the end of the game.

SCC closed the gap to 30-25 by halftime, the late flurry improving the team's first-half field-goal percentage to a blistering 23.1 percent.

The BlackHawks and Lynx went back and forth the first part of the second half until SCC finally took control with 8:27 left. Luis Garcia, Roberto Mafra, and Davis helped extend a 51-50 lead to 59-52 and the BlackHawks never trailed again.

"I think we learned a lot tonight," Carroll said. "I think we grew up as a team. I think we matured and that's exciting to see. We got great big lifts out of a lot of different people which is really encouraging."

SCC also cut down on what has been its Achilles heel so far this season -- turnovers. The BlackHawks gave up the ball 11 times, leading to just seven Lincoln points.

"We all have the ability not to turn the ball over," Davis said. "Sometimes we're not thinking as good as we can. That's when the mental errors come into play. I think as the season goes on we'll get better at that and we'll get less and less turnovers."

For the first time this season, the BlackHawks will see a team for the second time. SCC lost to Kirkwood last week in Cedar Rapids. Once again, the teams will play each other with just one day of preparation.

The BlackHawks are hoping for a different outcome on their home floor.

"We were pretty upset after that loss," said Davis. "They're a pretty good ball club so we want to come in tomorrow, really practice, get ready for them because this is a big rivalry and we really want to come out with a win."

NOTES: Stinson and James Harvey did not start Friday night. The pair was replaced in the lineup by Doug Edwards and Antonio Brimley, punishment for missing curfew Thursday night. "We don't have a lot of rules but the ones we have we expect to be followed," Carroll said. "If they're not, we're going to pay a price. Hopefully we learned about that, too."

LINCOLN (58)

Bobby Hill 9-16 3-7 23, Bryce Davis 3-5 2-2 9, Darius Adams 2-7 1-1 6, Darnell Lindsay 3-13 0-2 6, Colby Johnson 2-8 0-0 4, Alfred Jones 1-4 2-2 4, Brandon Farmer 0-1 2-2 2, Kordero Anderson 1-3 0-0 2, Gerren Rogers 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 22-58 10-16 58.

SOUTHEASTERN (70)

Luis Garcia 10-13 0-2 22, Marquez Davis 4-7 5-5 13, Roberto Mafra 5-12 5-5 13, Cecil Stinson 4-10 3-4 11, C.J. Wilkerson 2-5 1-1 5, Antonio Brimley 1-6 3-4 5, Andre Elliott 1-7 0-0 2, James Harvey 0-5 0-0 0, Thomas Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Doug Edwards 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Watznauer 0-3 0-2 0. Totals: 27-71 14-22 70.

Halftime: Lincoln 30, Southeastern 25. Rebounds: Lincoln 33 (Hill 11), Southeastern 55 (Mafra 9). Assists: Lincoln 7 (Farmer 3), Southeastern 7 (Stinson 3). Team fouls: Lincoln 21, Southeastern 13. 3-point goals: Lincoln 4-18 (Farmer 0-1, Adams 1-2, Johnson 0-5, Hill 2-3, Lindsay 0-3, Jones 0-2, Davis 1-2), Southeastern 2-15 (Stinson 0-4, Harvey 0-2, Jones 0-1, Garcia 2-3, Elliott 0-2, Davis 0-1, Edwards 0-1, Brimley 0-1). Steals: Lincoln 3 (Johnson, Lindsay, Jones), Southeastern 7 (Brimley 2). Blocks: Lincoln 6 (Rogers 3), Southeastern 3 (Mafra 2). Turnovers: Lincoln 12, Southeastern 11.

Records: Lincoln 5-4, Southeastern 4-3.