The Lindenwood men's basketball team (5-3, 5-3 GLVC) took down Illinois Springfield (2-3, 2-3 GLVC) on Wednesday by a final score of 85-75 inside Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.  TJ Crockett dropped 30 points, as he was one of four Lions to score in double figures.
 
GAME OVERVIEW
Lindenwood trailed by seven points at the 12:18 mark of the first half, but Crockett brought the Lions back with nine-consecutive Lindenwood points to tie the game nearly three minutes later.  The Prairie Stars built a slim lead before the Lions made a strong push towards the end of the first half.  The Lions had four different players tally points in the final three minutes, as Lindenwood held on to an eight-point lead after 20 minutes of play.
 
The Lions started off hot in the second half, resulting in an 11-point lead in less than two minutes.  Lindenwood picked up the pace in the final 10 minutes of play, as Vijay Blackmon scored all 18 of his points in the second half.  The Lions shot 61.5 percent from the field and made 4-of-7 three pointers in the second half to earn an 85-75 victory on Wednesday night.  Lindenwood outscored Illinois Springfield in the paint by a 22-16 margin in the second half.
 
QUOTABLE
"This was probably our best group effort of the year," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman.  "I thought we got positive minutes from everyone who played.  We moved and shared the ball really well, and just competed as a group for a long time tonight to overcome a slow start.  Coming off back-to-back losses, I know this win is a good feeling for our guys, and hopefully this gives us good momentum heading into Saturday."
 
GAME LEADERS
TJ Crockett (30 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK)
Vijay Blackmon (18 PTS, 2 AST, 2 STL, 1 REB)
Romelo Burrell (13 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL)
 
UP NEXT
The Lions will remain at home this weekend as they host Lewis on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.