On Monday night in Emporia, Kan., the Lindenwood men's basketball team combined its usual tough defense with strong rebounding and a good shooting night. The result was its first MIAA road win of the season with a 71-56 victory over Emporia State.
 
The Lions took control of the game in the final eight minutes of the first half. Lindenwood trailed 23-20, but closed the half on a 21-6 run, which gave it a 41-29 lead at halftime. The Hornets made just two-of-10 field-goal attempts in that closing run, and turned the ball over three times. Offensively, six different Lions scored, including eight from Cory Arentsen.
 
In the second half, the closest the Hornets got was 11 at 48-37, but the Lions answered with a 9-0 run that put the game away.
 
Defensively for the game, Lindenwood held Emporia State to 56 points, marking the second time over the last three games that it held an opponent under 60 points. The Hornets shot just 33.9 percent from the field, and they missed 15 three-pointers in the game.
 
Offensively, Lindenwood shot 57.1 percent from the field. The Lions attempted just nine three-pointers, and made five of them. On the boards, Lindenwood had a 41-24 advantage. The Lions grabbed 74.4 percent of the possible rebounds on defense, and 40.9 percent of the possible rebounds on offense.
 
The Lions had a balanced offensive attack, led by Sam Mader who came off the bench to score 16 points. He made seven-of-10 from the field in his best performance since returning to the lineup. Arentsen also had 16 points, and grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists. Brad Newman collected 14 points and four assists. Zachary Biggs added eight points and a team-high nine rebounds, and Stanislas Heili had nine points and eight rebounds.
 
Lindenwood improves to 9-4 on the season and 5-2 in MIAA action. The Lions return home later this week with two games starting with a Thursday night contest against Fort Hays State.