Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern basketball team went into the locker room down by eight at the half, but the Lions opened up the second half on a 14-3 run and held on to defeat visiting William Jewell 99-89 in front of more than 1,500 fans at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. 

The Lions (3-0) had five players in double-figures led by a double-double from CJ Carr with 26 points and 11 assists. Elyjah Clark had 18 points, while Lawrence Brown added a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. JJ Cratit scored 16 points, while Vince Fritz added 12 points off the bench. 

William Jewell (2-1) had two score more than 20 points as Jorge Perez-Laham scored 23 and Patrick Whelan had 21. Larry Fitzgerald added 19 points. 

A three pointer from Fritz at the 12:45 mark of the first half gave the Lions a 17-15 lead, but WJC went on a 7-0 run to lead 22-17. The game was tied at 24 and again at 30, before the Cardinals went on another run of 8-0 to go up 38-30. The lead was ten after a pair of free throws from Whelan made the score 45-35 late and a bucket from brown made the halftime score 45-37. 

The Lions opened up the second half with bucket from Carr and a three from Carr with 17:28 left gave the Lions a 51-28 lead and capped a 14-3 run to open the half. 

The Cardinals came right back and re-opened an eight point lead after a free throw from Fitzgerald made the score 62-54 with 14:43 to go and led by eight (71-63) with just over ten minutes to play. A layup from Cratit with 5:17 to go cut the lead to one (84-83) and a bucket from Cratit the next trip down gave the Lions an 85-84 lead with 4:40 to go. 

The teams traded points and the game was tied at 89 with 2:50 to go, but the Lions ended the game on a 10-0 run to secure the game. The Southern defense clamped down, holding WJC without a field goal for the final 6:04 of the game, including a huge block by Kinzer Lambert on a three-point attempt with 37 seconds to play. 

Southern shot 51 percent from the field and 38 percent from long-range, making 90 percent of its free throws. William Jewell had a 44-42 advantage with points in the paint, but the Lions scored 30 points off of 21 turnovers. The Lions had a 21-16 advantage in second-chance points. 

The Lions will be back in action on Tuesday evening, playing host to Rockhurst University. Tip off from Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center is slated for 7:30 pm.