Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern men's basketball team got a career-high 29 points from Christian Bundy as the Lions defeated visiting Lincoln 81-66 inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center this afternoon.
 
The Lions (7-4, 4-1 MIAA) were led by Bundy's 29 points as he went 6-of-9 from the field, 3-of-5 from long-range and 14-of-18 from the free throw line, adding in seven rebounds, four assists and a block in the showing.
 
Stan Scott had 22 points and five rebounds, while Alex Jones had seven points and seven assists. Martin Macenis scored nine points and added five boards, while Ndongo Ndaw had a team-high eight boards in ten minutes of play.
 
Lincoln (1-8, 0-4 MIAA) were led by Tre'vion Crawford with 15 points off the bench.
 
Southern got out to a ten-point lead (17-7) early on after a three from Scott with 13:16 left in the first half. The lead was nine (27-18) after a three from Bundy with 8:40 to go, but the Blue Tigers worked the game to three points twice in the half, the second at 35-32 with 2:15 to go.
 
A pair of free throws from Bundy and a late freebie from Scott gave the Lions a 38-32 lead at the break. Bundy had 18 points in the half as he was 4-of-6 from the field, 3-of-4 from the three-point line and 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
 
A three from Scott five minutes in pushed the Lions' lead to nine (47-38) but Lincoln clawed back and cut the deficit to one (51-50) with 11:50 to go.
 
A three from Avery Taggart the next trip down pushed the lead back to four and a layup from Macenis with 7:26 to go gave Southern a 64-55 advantage. Scott made the lead 12 (68-56) with a layup with five to go, while a pair of freebies from Jones gave the Lions their largest lead of the game at 19 17 seconds left.
 
The Lions shot 46 percent from the field and 72 percent from the free throw line. Southern had a 37-32 advantage in rebounds, while the Lions scored 21 points off 21 Lincoln turnovers, holding a 21-10 advantage in that category.
 
Southern will be off for the Christmas break and will be back in action on January 1 as the Lions travel to play at No. 2 ranked Northwest Missouri.