While it was an exhibition, the first game for the Lions was against the St. Louis Bombers in early September, and Lindenwood came away with a win.  It was the same story in the rematch at Hunter Stadium Saturday night as the Lions topped the Bombers 31-8 in another exhibition contest.

The game started in physical fashion as both teams sparred back and forth and made the most of early possessions, but it was the Lindenwood team that pounced on the first opportunity when fullback Steven Duff took a long ball from Brendan Davis and crossed the try line to put the Lions ahead 5-0.  Moments later, the Bombers took advantage of some bad discipline from Lindenwood and converted a penalty to make the score 5-3.  But the Lions recovered and some quick thinking from flanker Tyler Black resulted in a great pass to Nick Markowski who scored the second try of the game to extend the lead for Lindenwood.   Before the first half was over, Black crossed the line himself for the Lions and the Bombers found the try zone themselves to make the score 17-8 in favor of Lindenwood at the break.

The Lions took control of possession in the second half while keeping the Bombers off the scoreboard.  After a great set-up from Duff, Mathis Harris thrilled the crowd with a sprint past two defenders for his first try of the season.  He wasted little time in getting his second on a superb solo effort that put the finishing touches on the win for Lindenwood. 

Head Coach Ron Laszewski was proud of the solid defensive effort against one of the top men's clubs in the area, “We did a great job of maintaining our structure in both attack and defense,” he said.  “I'm very proud of how we shared the ball and played unselfish team rugby.”

After several exhibition games in the last few weeks, the Lions return to collegiate play as they face the University of Missouri on March 17.  Kick-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Hunter Stadium.