Joplin, Mo. – The 22^nd ranked Missouri Southern men's basketball team used a strong second half as the Lions defeated the Lincoln Blue Tigers 88-76 on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center today.
 
The Lions (21-7, 14-5 MIAA) were led offensively from Cam Martin as he scored 19 points and had ten rebounds and two blocks. Kinzer Lambert had a double-double with 17 points and ten rebounds, while adding three blocks of his own. Elyjah Clark had 16 points, while Braelon Walker had 13 points each.
 
Lincoln (10-18, 7-12 MIAA) was led offensively by 16 points from Cameron Potts.
 
Lincoln jumped out to a 9-5 lead two minutes into the game, but the Lions tied it up at nine after a pair of freebies from Jennings with 15:04 left in the half. Lincoln led 14-10 a minute later, but a 10-0 run by the Lions capped by a jumper from Lambert with 11:30 on the clock put the Lions in the lead 20-14.
 
A layup from Jennings with 10:27 left in the half gave Southern a 22-15 lead and a three from Winston Dessesow put Southern up 27-15 with 8:45 on the clock. Southern led by ten (29-19) with 7:33 on the clock, but the Blue Tigers went on a 9-0 run of their own to cut the lead to one (29-28) with five minutes on the clock. A pair of freebies from Ted Brown gave the Lions a 34-28 lead with 3:30 on the clock and a three from Martin with 1:33 left made the score 37-30, Lions, but Lincoln closed the half on a 7-2 run to cut the Southern lead to two (39-37) at the break.
 
Lincoln got the score within two points (46-44) with 17:30 on the clock, but a three from Walker with 12:54 gave Southern a 59-50 lead. A three from Lambert with 10:15 left pushed the lead to 14 (65-51), while a pair of freebies from Clark gave the Lions a 71-55 advantage with eight minutes to go.
 
A three from Ted Brown with a minute left on the clock made the score 88-70 and a pair of three's from the Blue Tigers would provide the final points.
 
The Lions will be back in action next week at the 2020 MIAA Basketball Tournament. Southern will be the No. 3 seed and will play at 8:15 pm on Friday, March 6 against the No. 6 seed, yet to be determined.
 
Stay tuned to mssulions.com as the official announcement of the brackets will be made by the MIAA this evening and will be posted as soon as it's available.