The Lions captured the USA Rugby Men's Collegiate Sevens National Championship with a 26-5 win against St. Mary's College Sunday evening at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado.  It was the second sevens title at the event in the last three years for the program.

Lindenwood scored first in the match on a Wesley White try, followed by a conversion from Michael Baska in the opening minute.  After the Gaels dotted down for what would prove to be their only score of the contest, Cristian Rodriguez crossed the line in the sixth minute and Giovanni Falco did the same in the seventh minute, giving the Lions a 19-5 lead at the break.  Sam Chapman added some insurance in the 10^th minute and when Baska booted the conversion, it gave Lindenwood the final margin of victory.

With three conversions, Baska led the offense with six points while four other players each scored a single try in a balanced attack. 

The Lions coasted through pool play, posting three straight wins, two by shutout; 30-0 over Stanford, and 31-0 over Wyoming.  Lindenwood followed with a 26-5 win over Grand Canyon, and then added a 42-0 blanking of Bowling Green in the Cup quarterfinals and a 33-0 shutout of Utah in the Cup semifinals.

In the six games that the Lions played over the weekend, 12 different players scored in some fashion, led by Baska with 50 on 15 conversions and four tries. Nick Feakes dotted down six times and added two conversions for 34 points and MVP honors.  Rodriguez scored 25 points on five tries, Chapman had 20 points on four tries.  Wesley White had three tries, Alex Augsburg and Mickey Bateman each had two, and Jack Desmond, Chris Schoeman, Deion Mikesell, and Falco each had one.  Nick Taylor kicked one conversion for two points.

Lindenwood improved to 42-11-2 overall with the six wins.  The Lions will now shift their focus to another national event, the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC 7's) June 3-4 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania.  Lindenwood has been placed in Pool C and will face Army, Navy, and St. Joseph's University in preliminary play.