A strong defensive effort by the Lindenwood men's basketball team led the Lions to a victory on Saturday in the team's conference opener. Lindenwood defeated Lincoln by a 78-73 score in Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo. 

Lincoln came into the game leading the MIAA with a 93.3 scoring average. The Lions limited the Blue Tigers to 20 points below their season average, and Lincoln was held to just 37.3 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent shooting from three-point range. 

Lindenwood's defense was especially important midway through the second half when both of the team's starting post players had to leave the court with four fouls and the score was tied at 52-52. The defense though held Lincoln without a point for the next 3:21 after it forced three turnovers and two missed shots. Offensively in that span, Cory Arentsen scored eight straight points and Brad Newman had a layup to give the Lions a 10-point lead. 

Lincoln did come back and got within one point at 63-62, before LJ McIntosh hit a big three-pointer, followed by a Zachary Biggs layup. The Blue Tigers were never able to get the contest back within one possession after that. 

Lindenwood finished the game shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from three-point range. The Lions had five blocks in the game, including two by Logan Jaehnen in the final three minutes to help the Lions fend off Lincoln. 

Arentsen led Lindenwood with 23 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. He was nine-of-nine from the free-throw line. The rest of the scoring was balanced as five other players had eight or more points. Newman finished with 12, McIntosh had 11, Biggs collected 10 points, and Chandler Diekvoss and Stanislas Heili each had eight. 

Lindenwood improves to 5-2 on the season and 1-0 in MIAA play. The Lions are off until next Saturday when it hosts Northeastern State at 3 p.m.