ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood Men's Basketball team (7-4, 2-0 OVC) improved to 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference and won their fifth straight game overall with a 92-76 victory over Western Illinois on Thursday night. Senior Guard Anias Futrell scored a career-high 36 points in the contest, knocking down eight three pointers and shooting 14-25 from the floor to lead the Lions offensively. 

Lindenwood started out fast going on a 16-4 run to start the contest tonight. Futrell scored 10 of the first 16 points and knocked down the first two three point jumpers that he took in the game to provide a spark for the Lions early on. After the Leathernecks cut the Lion lead to five at 16-11 with 14:01 to go in the first half, Futrell ended a 7-0 WIU run with a baseline jumper that sparked yet another run for LU. Dontrez Williams got Lindenwood going again after he converted on a three pointer in which he stole the ball from the WIU defender off of a Jadis Jones missed free throw to extend the lead back to double digits by a score of 23-12. Williams scored 13 points in the first half and scored four straight points after knocking down the three pointer to push the Lindenwood lead to 29-16 with under eight minutes to play in the half. The Lions got up by as much as 18 points in the opening 20 minutes of play, but the Leathernecks went on an extended 4-0 run over the final 1:38 to get within striking distance at halftime giving Lindenwood a 42-28 lead. Futrell knocked down three shots from beyond the arc in the first half, and shot 8-11 from the field to lead all scorers with 19 points at the break. 

In the second half, the Leathernecks cut the Lion lead to 45-37 with 17:24 to go, but Futrell would heat up again and hit back-to-back three pointers on two straight possessions to give Lindenwood some breathing room. The Lions got to the free throw line 25 times in the second half, with Jones leading the way going 8-10 from the line in the final 20 minutes of action.After Jones scored two free throws to push the lead out to 19 points with 13:46 to go, Lindenwood maintained their double digit lead for the remainder of the game and had the lead for all but 14 seconds throughout the contest.

The trio of Futrell, Williams, and Jones combined for 72 of Lindenwood's 92 points tonight while the defense held the Leathernecks to 48.3% from the field in the game. Meanwhile, the Lions shot 50.8% from the field and 47.4% from the three point line as Futrell and Williams combined for all nine of the Lions three pointers with Futrell leading the way with eight.

The Lions are back at home on Saturday afternoon as they will host Harris Stowe at 1 p.m. for their final non conference home game of the season.