MACOMB, Ill. - The Lindenwood Men's Basketball team (17-13, 11-9 OVC) got back into the win column on Saturday afternoon with a 91-69 win over Western Illinois on the road. With the victory, the Lions have won their most games in a single season in the Division I era with 17. The 11 OVC wins and seven road wins is also the most conference wins and road wins in the Division I era as well. 

After trailing 6-2 early in the first half, Anias Futrell scored eight points on two three pointers that quickly sparked a 13-0 run as the Lions jumped in front by a score of 15-6 with 13:57 to go in the opening half of play. Lindenwood went on their second big run of the half a few minutes later behind six points from Dontrez Williams and four points from Milos Nenadic to push the lead out to double digits by a score of 29-17 with just over nine minutes to go. Futrell would knock down two more three pointers and Clayton Jackson added a three of his own as the Lions made five first half three pointers and shot 55% from the field to take a 22 point lead into the locker room by a score of 50-28. Defensively, the Lions forced 11 Leatherneck turnovers in the first half and scored 15 points off those turnovers to establish a large lead heading into the second half. 

In the second half, WIU trimmed the deficit to 17, making it 62-45 with 12 minutes remaining. However, Lindenwood quickly responded, stretching the lead back to 23 after Mekhi Cooper knocked down a three-pointer with 9:26 to play. The Lions maintained a lead of 20 points for most of the final nine minutes and took care of business on the road to secure their sixth conference road win of the season.The 22 point victory marked the second highest margin of victory on the road this season and Lindenwood was led in scoring by Anias Futrell, who scored a game-high 21 points.

Dontrez Williams finished the contest with his second career double-double as the Sophomore scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, while Jadis Jones notched his team-leading ninth double-double of the season behind 12 points and 10 rebounds. Lindenwood outrebounded WIU 41-29 for the game and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, which was the most in a game on the road since January 29 at Southern Indiana (14). Sophomore Guard Clayton Jackson was the fourth Lion to score in double digits as he scored 13 points on 4-5 shooting and tied his season-high for three pointers made in a single game with two.

The Lions will now prepare for the OVC tournament, which starts on Wednesday, March 4. Lindenwood will take on the #7 seed Little Rock Trojans at 8:30 p.m. CT in Evansville, Indiana at the Ford Center on Wednesday evening.