Box Score The Lindenwood men's basketball used a dominating night shooting the ball and rebounding to roll to a conference road win 78-69 over Missouri Western on Wednesday night.
The Lions shot 55 percent from the field and 42 percent from behind the arc in the win. The second half the team shot 68 percent and missed one seven shots on 22 attempts. Lindenwood also outrebounded the Griffins 38-24.
To start the game, Missouri Western jumped out to a 12-2 run to lead by 10 in the early going. The Lions would slice into the lead but could not get in front of the home team. The Griffin lead teetered between one and four until the Lions took their first lead of the game after an 11-2 run.
Lindenwood extended its lead to six after a
Tyler Ressel three with 47 seconds left to play in the half. But just 20 seconds later, Missouri Western grabbed some momentum with a three of its own to cut the deficit to three at the end of the first half.
The Griffins sustained the momentum they got at the end of the first with a 10-0 run to start the second half and took a four-point lead just 1:20 in. Right back came the Lions though with a 9-1 run of their own regaining the lead by four.
Over the next four minutes, the two teams swapped the lead back-and-forth three times. With eight minutes to play
Brett Thompson connected on a layup that gave Lindenwood the lead by one and the visitors never trailed again.
Missouri Western got within one on three separate occasions but could not tie the score or take the lead. The Lions closed the game in the final two minutes going seven-for-seven from the free throw line to hold on for the win.
Alex Bazzell led the way for Lindenwood scoring 20 points grabbing six rebounds, dishing out seven assists, and was 15-for-16 from the free throw line.
Brett Thompson scored 12 points and
Richie Thompson compiled a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Darris Smith also scored in double digits with 11.
With the win the Lions improve their record to 10-4 overall and 3-3 in MIAA play. Lindenwood will be back on its home court Saturday afternoon against the Lincoln Blue Tigers.
