The Lindenwood men's basketball (1-0, 1-0 GLVC) won its 14th-straight home opener, after defeating Missouri S&T (0-1, 0-1 GLVC) by a score of 89-70 on Friday night in Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
 
GAME OVERVIEW
The Lions were led by TJ Crockett who dropped 31 points, as he was 10-of-18 from the floor.  Crockett knocked down all eight of his free-throw attempts, and was 3-for-4 from behind the arc.  Vijay Blackmon compiled 19 points, and dished out four assists.  Romelo Burrell registered a double-double in his first game as a Lion, as the Chicago, Ill. native tallied 10 points with 12 boards.
 
As a team, the Lions compiled 15 steals, including five from Burrell.  Lindenwood shot 44.6 percent from the field, including 40.0 percent from long range.  The Lions held the Miners to 30.6 percent shooting from the field in the second half, resulting in just 31 points for Missouri S&T in the final 20 minutes of play.  Lindenwood accumulated 42 points in the paint and 28 points off the fast break, while producing 29 points off forced turnovers.
 
The Lions built a 10-point lead at the 9:46 mark of the first half after a three pointer by Crockett.  Lindenwood maintained a solid lead, but the Miners continued to claw back and made it a seven point game at the half.  The Lions climbed to a 19-point lead at the 6:51 mark of the second half, and didn't look back.  Lindenwood cruised to an 89-70 win over the Miners, marking the sixth-straight win for the Lions in a season-opening game.

QUOTABLE
"I'm really happy for our guys, that they were able to open up the season with a win," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman.  "Obviously it's been a strange start to the year, and will continue to be, but we try to focus each day to get better.  Even though we have returners that played big roles for us last year, we need a lot of reps working our new guys into our system and getting them comfortable.  Overall I'm just pleased with a pretty good team effort tonight."
 
GAME LEADERS
TJ Crockett (31 PTS, 5 AST, 5 REB, 4 STL)
Romelo Burrell (10 PTS, 12 REB, 5 STL, 3 BLK)
Vijay Blackmon (19 PTS, 4 AST, 4 STL, 3 REB)
 
UP NEXT
The Lions are set to take on Maryville at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 3rd in St. Louis, Mo.