Jefferson City, Mo. – The Missouri Southern men's basketball team utilized a 16-3 run early in the second half to open up a nine-point lead and rolled to a 91-82 win tonight at Lincoln University.
 
Southern (7-2, 3-0 MIAA) was led offensively by 24 points from CJ Carr as the junior went 11-12 from the free-throw line, adding five assists and going 3-5 from long-range. Elyjah Clark had a career-high 20 points, going 7-13 from the field and 5-10 from the three-point line. Lawrence Brown had 10 points and nine rebounds, while LJ Ross had 12 points and six boards. Kinzer Lambert scored 10 off the bench, giving the Lions five in double-figures.
 
Lincoln (6-3, 0-1 MIAA) was led by 25 points from Anthony Virdue and 18 from Jaylon Smith.
 
Both teams traded baskets early on before back-to-back buckets from Ross gave the Lions a 12-9 lead at the 15:30 mark of the first half.
 
Lincoln led 18-14 with 12:49 left, but a three pointer from Carr with 10:03 left capped a 9-2 run by the Lions to put Southern back up 23-20. The Blue Tigers led 39-33 with 3:45 left in the first half, but the Lions closed the half on an 8-2 run to go into the locker room all tied at 41.
 
After Lincoln started the second half on a quick 4-0 run, the Lions answered right back with a 16-3 run to go up 57-48 with 15:38 left after a layup from Ross. Clark made two three's during the run.
 
A three from Carr and another from Clark had the Lions' lead up to 12 (65-53) at the 11:54 mark of the second half. A layup from Lambert with 4:44 to go pushed the Lions' lead to ten at 77-67.
 
A jumper from Carr and a layup from Ross and the Lions led 84-71 with three to go, and despite a late three from the Blue Tigers, the Lions held on for the win.
 
The Lions won the rebounding battle 41-31, including 15 offensive boards to have a 17-11 lead in second chance points. Southern shot 45 percent from the field and 48 percent from long-range, while making 93 percent of its free throws.
 
Southern will be back in action on Saturday afternoon with a tilt at Lindenwood. Tipoff is slated for 3:30 pm.