The Lindenwood men's basketball team (2-0, 2-0 GLVC) picked up a 73-69 win over Maryville (1-1, 1-1 GLVC) on Thursday night in St. Louis, Mo.  Anthony Christian sparked the team with 15 points off the bench.
 
GAME OVERVIEW
The Lions jumped out to a quick lead after TJ Crockett scored off the tip just six seconds into the game.  The two teams battled back and forth for the first three minutes, but Maryville built a 22-10 lead at the 11:57 mark of the first half.  Lindenwood began to chip away at the 12-point deficit and tied the game with less than five minutes remaining.  Christian put the Lions in front by one with a free throw at the 3:37 mark, which the Lions maintained the lead after the first 20 minutes of play.  Lindenwood shot less than 30 percent in the opening half, but played well in the defensive end by registering six steals.
 
Crockett built on the lead with a three pointer in the first minute of the second half.  The Lions held just a two-point lead at the 14:39 mark, but Christian went to work in the paint.  In the span of the next 1:13 of game time, Christian scored three-straight buckets to energize the Lions.  Christian added another bucket at the 12:18 mark, while Brandon Suggs gave the Lions a 10-point lead with a three-point play less than a minute later.
 
Lindenwood accumulated a 16-point lead at one point, but the Saints never let up.  The Lions held on for a 73-69 win over Maryville, with the help of 15 bench points from Christian on his 6-of-10 shooting.  Crockett led the team with 19 points, while three other Lions scored in double digits.  Lindenwood stayed cool at the free-throw line, going 22-for-27 at the charity stripe.  For the second-straight game, Romelo Burrell grabbed more than 10 rebounds, as he added two blocks.
 
QUOTABLE
"I'm really proud of our effort tonight against a Maryville team that we respect, and we knew they would come ready to play," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman.  "Offensively it was not our best performance at all, but we made enough plays to win.  I thought our defense and rebounding was the difference.  We got stops that helped us hang around in the first half, and stops in the second half that helped us seal the win.  We played without Kevin Caldwell Jr. and a couple other guys, and still found a way.  I'm really happy for these guys."
 
GAME LEADERS
Anthony Christian (15 PTS, 7 REB, 1 STL)
TJ Crockett (19 PTS, 3 AST, 3 STL, 4 REB, 1 BLK)
Cameron Scales (14 PTS, 9 REB, 3 STL, 2 AST, 2 BLK)
 
UP NEXT
Lindenwood will head to Quincy, Ill. on Saturday to take on Quincy at 3:15 p.m.