Emporia, Kan. -- The 19th-ranked Missouri Southern Lions out scored Emporia State by 13 in the second half and held on to defeat the Hornets, 71-58 inside White Auditorium. 

Southern (18-4, 11-2 MIAA) was led in scoring by Kinzer Lambert who had a season-high 25 points to go along with six rebounds. Cam Martin had 17 points and seven boards, while Braelon Walker added 11 points and seven rebounds. Winston Dessesow had nine points off the bench, while Elyjah Clark scored six points and added nine rebounds. Clark also set a new MSSU record with his 114th career start, as he has the most starts in MSSU men's basketball history. 

Lambert moves into 13th place in the all-time scoring list and has 1,292 points in his career. 

Emporia State (10-12, 4-9 MIAA) was led by Zac Owens with 18 points. 

The Lions trailed by as many as seven early (11-4), and then by six (26-20) with four minutes to go in the first half. From that point, however, Southern went on a 8-2 run to lead 33-28 after a free throw from Walker with 35 seconds to go in the half. ESU rallied back and a late three from Owens sent the two teams to the locker room, tied at 33. 

The two teams jockeyed for the lead throughout the first part of the second half, and the Hornets led 46-45 with 13:26 to go. The Lions quickly erased that as a pair of free throws from Martin with nine minutes to go, capped a 12-4 run to put Southern up 57-50. 

The run reached 19-7 after a jumper from Dessesow with 4:47 to give the Lions an 11-point lead (64-53) and a late bucket from Lambert provided the final tally. 

Southern shot 85 percent from the free throw line in the game (17-of-20), while out rebounding Emporia State 45-38. 

The Lions will be back in action on Thursday night when Southern plays host to No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri. Tip off from the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center is slated for 7:30 pm.