Box Score The Lindenwood men's basketball team clinched a berth into the MIAA Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon after beating Lincoln 82-75 in St. Charles.

For the first 11 minutes of the contest the two teams traded the lead six times before Rayko Dundalov and Tyler Ressel scored on back-to-back possessions to give the Lions their largest lead of the game at six.

The lead did not last long as Lincoln scored the game's next seven points to recapture the lead. That lead did not last long either as the Lions answered Lincoln's long run with an 8-0 run of its own to retake a seven point advantage. The Blue Tigers were able to cut their deficit to just three as the first half came to a close.

The second half started out well for Lindenwood pushing its lead up to as many as 16 just seven minutes into the half. It looked like the Lions had a firm grasp on the game but that was not the case.

Lincoln went on a 14-3 run over a just three minutes and cut the Lions lead to just five. The score got as close as 63-59 before Lindenwood would go on a 7-0 run to regain its double digit advantage. The run was capped off by a Darris Smith layup with just over eight minutes to go which turned out to be the Lions last basket.

But it was not the team's last point because the Lions hit 15-of-20 free throws over the final eight minutes to secure the win and a spot in postseason play.

Garrett Reeg had one of his best performances of his career grabbing 15 rebounds and scoring 14 points. He also added two assists and a steal. Smith also had a solid game scoring 19 points grabbing four rebounds and dishing out five assists. Ressel also chipped in with double figures scoring 18 points.

The Lions shot 42 percent from the field, 31 percent from behind the arc, and 73 percent from the charity stripe. Lindenwood dominated the glass outrebounding the Blue Tigers 49-38.

Now that Lindenwood has clinched a spot in the tournament the team will wait to see its final seed after the completion of league play next week.

The win on Saturday improved the Lions to 11-17 overall and 6-12 in MIAA play. Lindenwood will close out its regular season on Thursday night with a home game against Missouri Southern.