MacArthur snaps Railer win streak
at 3 games with 48-31 win over Lincoln
[February 04, 2026]
LINCOLN – It was déjà vu all over again for the Railer
basketball team Tuesday night, as league-leading Decatur MacArrthur
wore Lincoln down and pulled away in the third quarter en route to a
double-digit win over LCHS.
The Railers hoped to exact revenge on their Central State 8 foe, as
the Generals beat the Railers back in December in the second round
of the Prairie Farms Holiday Classic Tournament in Collinsville. In
that game, Lincoln overcame a 12-3 first quarter deficit to trail
21-14 at halftime. The Railers cut the MacArthur lead to five points
almost midway into the third quarter, but Ike racheted up its
defensive pressure and outscored LCHS 28-15 the rest of the way to
win that December game, 56-38.
Karson Komnick
Things started better for LCHS in the Tuesday night rematch against
the Generals. The Railers jumped out to a 6-0 lead thanks to a
conventional three-point play by Karson Komnick and a three-point
field goal by Tate Aue.
But MacArthur took the lead thanks to a 9-0 run, the last two points
of which came on this slashing drive to the basket by Damonte
Phillips.
Lincoln pulled to within a point at 9-8 on a stop-and-pop jumper
from Preston Short. And after the Generals extended the lead to
11-8, Brody Tungate hit a three-pointer to knot the score at 11-11.
Brody Tungate
MacArthur regained the lead on a field goal by Khymir Carson to make
it 13-11, but Tungate evened the score with field goal near the
right elbow to tie the game 13-13 heading into the second period.
The Generals opened the second quarter with a 6-0 run, as Jacorey
Murphy sandwiched a pair of field goals around another by Carson to
give Ike a 19-14 advantage.
MacArthur slowly pulled away from Lincoln in the quarter. The
visitors led 22-16 as time in the first half was winding down, but
Komnick hit a trey for the Railers to pull LCHS to within three
points at 22-19.
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A few seconds later, MacArthur got the final points of the half on a
drive by Kenall Howell to give the Generals a 24-19 lead at
halftime.
The teams traded baskets to open the third quarter, and Tungate
pulled Lincoln back to within five points when he snagged a loose
ball and drove the length of the court for a layup.
MacArthur closed the third period on a 6-0 run. Tishawn Clemmens got
the final two points of the run when he stole the ball and hit a
layup for the Generals, giving them their first double-digit lead at
36-25 going into the fourth period.
Clemmons got the first four points of the final period to extend
Ike’s run to 10-0, but Bryce Vlahovich hit a three pointer to stop
Lincoln’s scoreless streak and make the score 40-28.
But MacArthur went on to outscore Lincoln 12-6 in the fourth quarter
and won 48-31.
LCHS head coach Neil Alexander said MacArthur played a more
hard-nosed game than the Railers to earn the victory.
“We just allowed them to attack us in many different ways,”
Alexander said. “They were tougher than we were. I mean they were
physical. We didn’t protect the ball, we had too many what we call
live-ball turnovers for layups. You take the layups out and the
offensive rebounds out, and you’ve got yourself a game.”
Komnick led the Railers with 13 points. Tungate added 10.
The loss drops Lincoln’s overall record to 20-6 and 5-3 in the
Central State 8.
With the loss, Neil Alexander’s career win total as a head
basketball coach remains at 998.
MacArthur improves to 24-1 with the victory and 8-0 in league play.
In the junior varsity game played prior to the varsity contest,
Lincoln’s JV squad got a late tip-in by Kane Komnick to beat
MacArthur’s JV team, 55-54.
Upcoming scheduled games for the Railers include:
• Fri 2/6/2026 @ 7 PM vs. Sacred Heart-Griffin
• Sat 2/7/2026 @ 6:30 PM vs. Lanphier
• Tue 2/10/2026 @ 7 PM @ East Peoria
• Fri 2/13/2026 @ 7 PM @ Springfield Southeast
• Fri 2/20/2026 @ 7 PM vs. Champaign Central
[Loyd Kirby]
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