Box Score The Lindenwood football team had one of its best rushing days over the last two seasons on Saturday at Hunter Stadium, but it wasn't enough as the Lions fell to Missouri Western by a 37-29 score.
 
The Griffons came into the game allowing just 78.6 rushing yards a contest, the eighth-best mark in NCAA Division II. The Lions were able to put up 225 yards on the ground, and scored four rushing touchdowns. It also had a pair of 100-yard rushers for the first time since the 2010 season.
 
The Griffons were able to match that production in the running game though, and also had 266 passing yards. Missouri Western finished the game with 178 more yards of total offense, which helped it pull out the MIAA road victory.
 
Missouri Western took a 7-0 lead in the game, but Aaron Daniels gave the Lions a spark. Daniels came into the contest with just 14 rushing yards in his Lindenwood career, but broke open several big plays in the first half. He also scored touchdowns on back-to-back possessions to put the Lions up 13-7 early in the second quarter.
 
The Griffons responded by scoring touchdowns on three of their final four possessions of the first half. The Lions also scored twice on an Allen Thigpen touchdown and a Travis Spraul field goal, but they trailed 27-23 at halftime.
 
Neither team scored in the third quarter, and Missouri Western went back up seven with a short field goal early in the final quarter. Thigpen took advantage of a big kickoff return by the Lions, and found the endzone five plays later. A missed PAT though caused the Lions to still trail 30-29.
 
The biggest drive of the game came after that, as Missouri Western went on a 12-play drive to score its final touchdown. The Griffons had to complete three third-down plays, including a third-and-seven in which it scored on an 11-yard reception.
 
Lindenwood had two more chances to cut into the 37-29 deficit, but the Lions turned it over on downs both times, including near midfield with 19 seconds remaining in the game.
 
Daniels finished with 120 rushing yards, and averaged 6.7 yards per carry. Thigpen gained 140 rushing yards and finished with 108 yards after accounting for sacks. Thigpen also completed half of his passes for 121 yards. Kendell Sparks caught five passes for 44 yards, and DeSean Warren had four receptions for 60 yards.
 
Defensively for the Lions, Ricky McCoy had a fumble recovery and DJ Hicks had an interception. Connor Harris had a team-high 10 tackles, and Bakari Triggs had two pass breakups. Justin Taylor had the team's only sack, and nine players had at least an assisted tackle for loss.
 
On special teams, Triggs had 153 kickoff return yards, the most in Lindenwood history for a single-game. The Lions finished with a season-high 277 return yards on punts, kickoffs, and interceptions.
 
Game Notes: Lindenwood falls to 1-5 overall and 1-5 in the MIAA … Missouri Western improves to 4-2 overall and 4-2 in the MIAA … the Griffons now lead the all-time series by a 3-0 margin … Connor Harris had his 22nd straight double-figure tackle game and improved his NCAA All-Division career tackles record to 575 … the last two 100-yard rushers in program history came in 2010 when Denodus O'Bryant had 134 yards and LeMarian Parson had 100 against Culver-Stockton … the next game for the Lions is next Saturday at 2 p.m. in Emporia, Kan. against Emporia State.