GAME OVERVIEW
The Lindenwood men's basketball team (9-6, 2-1 MIAA) cruised to a 22-point victory over No. 20 Missouri Southern on Thursday evening from Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo. Lindenwood outscored the visitors by a 47-23 margin during the second half en route to the 79-57 triumph.

The teams traded buckets for the majority of the first half, and with just over six minutes remaining before halftime the score was tied at 21-21. Chandler Diekvoss and Brenon Larson-Gulsvig knocked down back-to-back buckets, including a three-pointer from Larson-Gulsvig to give the Lions a five-point lead with under five minutes to play.

However, the 20th-ranked Missouri Southern Lions closed out the half on a 13-6 run and carried a 34-32 edge into intermission.

Adam Pohlman connected on a three-pointer to open the second half for Lindenwood, sparking the home team on 37-14 run that would stretch all the way until the final 2:20 of regulation.

During their second-half run, Lindenwood shot 12-of-23 from the field (52.2 percent), while managing to hold their opponents to 5-of-18 shooting (27.7 percent) over that same time. Lindenwood forced Missouri Southern into 11 turnovers during that 17-minute span, while committing just four of their own.

Brad Newman accounted for 13 of Lindenwood's points during their game-changing swing, while Chandler Diekvoss added 10 of his own.

Lindenwood's lead extended to a game-high margin of 24 points with 45 seconds remaining, before ultimately settling in at its final count of 22 points for a 79-57 final.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Diekvoss led all scorers with 24 points (9-of-16 FG), the fifth time he has led Lindenwood in scoring this season, and the fifth time he has reached 20 points in game this season.
- Diekvoss collected seven rebounds, one shy of Drew Moore's team-leading total of eight.
- Newman finished the evening with 21 points (7-of-18 FG), and needs just two more points to reach the 1,000-point plateau for his career.
- Pohlman totaled 12 points (3-of-4 FG, 4-of-4 FT), his fourth double-digit scoring effort of the season. Pohlman led the team in assists with five.
- Diego Womack scored 10 points (5-of-8 FG), while adding six boards.
- Lindenwood finished the game shooting 45.9 percent, and was 52.0 percent from the field during the second half.
- The win over a ranked opponent was Lindenwood's first of the season, and the program's first since defeating No. 25 Northwest Missouri on Dec. 20, 2015.
- Lindenwood again held its opponent to under 60 points of offense, the fourth time they have managed to do so this season. Lindenwood is 4-0 in those games.
- Missouri Southern entered the game averaging 93.5 points per game, the fourth-highest per game average in NCAA Division II.
- With the win, the Lions improve their record to 4-0 at home this season.

QUOTEABLE
Head Coach Lance Randall
"Our defensive effort was outstanding against the fourth-highest scoring team in the nation," said Randall. "Drew and Luka really set a tone defensively all evening. I thought we won the physical battles all night. We did a better job of moving the ball and attacking out of flow throughout the second half. Diego was a beast for us down low. Adam, Brad and Chandler had them on their heels the entire second half. We received great minutes off of our bench on both sides of the ball, particularly from Brenon and Sukhman. This is a terrific win against one of the best offensive teams in the country. I am proud of the sustained grit we showed tonight."

UP NEXT
Lindenwood will host Pittsburg State on Saturday afternoon from Hyland Arena. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.