Lindenwood women's bowling won the Lion's Classic for the program's sixth tournament title of the season while the men settled for a seventh place finish after stumbling in match play.  Lindenwood hosted the third annual event at St. Charles Lanes and Plaza Lanes in St. Charles, Missouri January 28-29.

The Lady Lions averaged 971 per game and shot a tournament high game of 1,056 on Saturday to qualify second with an overall total of 7,027 including head-to-head team bonus.  They finished the day 234 pins behind McKendree. 
Day two competition consisted of double-elimination, best-of-three baker match play and the Lady Lions took the long route to the victory.  After earning a bye in the first round as the number two seed, Lindenwood faced number three seed Martin Methodist.  After winning the first game, the Lady Lions lost the second by a single pin and went on to lose the third game and the match as well. 

The loss would prove to be the only one for Lindenwood on Sunday as the team regrouped to average over 210 per game from that point.  In the next round, the Lady Lions faced sixth seeded Missouri Baptist in the contender side of the bracket and bounced back with a 2-0 win, averaging close to 225 for the match.  Lindenwood didn't slow down in round four as they earned another 2-0 sweep against fifth seed Lindenwood-Belleville. 

That set up a rematch against Martin Methodist and the Red Hawks again proved to be a tough opponent as they won the opening game of the elimination match by two pins.  The Lady Lions fought back from the brink to take the second game by an identical two pin margin and then won the third game 237-224 to advance and face top seeded McKendree.

The Lindenwood ladies faced an uphill battle as they needed to win two straight matches against the undefeated Bearcats to earn the tournament win.  The Lady Lions wasted no time as they topped McKendree in two straight games to win the first match of the finals.  It looked like Lindenwood was in trouble in the deciding second match as the Bearcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a big 245-181 victory, but the Lady Lions rallied in the second game with a 211-188 win to even things.  The deciding game went down to the final frame as neither team could pull away, but Lindenwood was able to prevail with a 222-203 win to take the match and the championship.   

Individually, Amanda Greene led the Lady Lions with a 198.57 average and earned her eighth All-Tournament Team honor for the season.  Five other Lindenwood players finished in the top 12 including Amanda Chamberlin (sixth), Crystal Brooks (seventh), Brittney Morton (eighth), Laura Swenson (ninth), and Jamie Faust (11^th). 

Despite a solid second place finish on Saturday, the men's team didn't enjoy the same fate as the ladies.  The Lions went 6-1 in head-to-head team competition, averaging 1,055 per game with a high of 1,166 to total 7,607 and finish day one just 78 pins behind McKendree. 

As the number two seed, Lindenwood faced the number seven seed Missouri Baptist in the opening round of match play on Sunday.  The Spartans had survived a play-in match earlier in the day, and they continued that momentum as they upset the Lions with a 2-0 victory.  Lindenwood tried to bounce back in the next round against number three seed Martin Methodist in an elimination match, but the Lions could not turn the tide and they fell again in two straight games to settle for a seventh place finish.

Number four seed Cumberland bounced back from an opening round loss to come all the way through the contenders side of the bracket to sweep Indiana in two straight matches in the finals to win the tournament.

The Lions dominated the individual standings placing nine players in the top 20 including tournament winner Danny Spink, who averaged 230.43 for the event to earn All-Tournament Champion honors.  Jeremy Zimmerly also made the All-Tournament team in fifth place with a 224.86 average.  Other Lindenwood players in the top 20 included:  Cody Clayton (sixth-221.43 average), Dan Lemiesz (seventh-221.29 average), Tyler Vocks (eighth-218.57 average), Brandon Rice (13^th-210.57 average), Brad Miller (14^th-210.43 average), Blake Paris (15^th-210 average) and Orlando Smith (20^th-204 average).

Lindenwood bowling is back in action this weekend as they travel across the river to the Metro East for the McKendree Baker Challenge.  The men compete at St. Clair Bowl in Fairview Heights, Illinois while the women compete at Bel-Air Bowl in Belleville, Illinois.