Quincy, Ill. – A 16-0 run for the Missouri Southern men's basketball team helped propel the Lions to an 85-74 win over Truman State today in the final game of the Quincy Holiday Classic.
 
Southern (6-5) wins its fourth game in a row and takes home the title of the Quincy Holiday Classic. CJ Carr led the Lions with 23 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, while Enis Memic had a career-high 21 points on 10-17 from the field, all off the bench. Kinzer Lambert had 16 points on 6-7 shooting, while Elyjah Clark had 12 points. Carr's 19 assists in the tournament is a new tournament record, breaking a mark set in 2001.
 
Truman (5-5) had four in double-figures, led by 21 points from Nathan Messer, while Zach Fischer had 16 points and 14 rebounds.
 
The Lions scored the first seven points and a jumper from Carr gave Southern a 7-0 lead with 17:14 left in the first half. A jumper from LJ Ross gave the Lions a 11-4 lead with 15 to go. Southern led until the seven-minute mark when a three from the Bulldog's Nathan Messer gave Truman a 20-18 lead.
 
The Lions tied it at 20 with a jumper from Braelon Walker, but Truman re-took the lead the next trip down and led for the rest of the half until a three at the buzzer from Clark tied the score at 34 going to the locker room.
 
Clark hit a trio of free throws to open the half and gave the Lions a 37-34 lead to start the second half. The run for the Lions to start the half was 13-5 and Southern led 47-39 after a bucket from Memic with 15:50 left.
 
A three from Koray Gilbert increased the run to 12-0 for the Lions and pushed Southern's lead to 51-39 with just under 15 to go and a behind-the-back assist from Carr to Lambert pushed the lead to 53-39 and forced another Truman timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Memic found Lambert for a dunk to give the Lions a 16-point lead (55-39).
 
A three-point play from Memic with 10:30 left pushed the Lions' lead back to 11 (60-39) and a three from Carr with 9:45 left gave the Lions a 63-49 lead. A jumper from Carr kept the lead at 11 (69-58) with 5:42 to go, and back-to-back layups from Clark gave the Lions an 82-67 lead with 1:26 left in the game.
 
Southern shot 55 percent from the field in the game, and rattled off 68 percent of its shots in the second half. The Lions went 50 percent from long-range and 78 percent from the free throw line. The Southern bench outscored the Truman bench 27-10.
 
The Lions will be back in action after the Christmas break as Southern will play host to Oklahoma Wesleyan at 3:30 pm on December 30.