Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern men's basketball team was back at home Thursday evening, hosting the Lincoln Blue Tigers for their second meeting of the season. It was a collective team effort that gave the Lions an 83-77 victory over the Blue Tigers, as five Lions scored double digits. With the win, MSSU improves to 10-12 (8-8 MIAA) on the year.

The Lions got off to a hot start, going on a 10-0 run over the first five minutes. Scoring the first four points was Darius Dawson, then Vinson Sigmon Jr. and Avery Taggart each hit a three. A shift in momentum allowed the Blue Tigers to catch up pretty quickly. Leading by just one at the time, Sigmon Jr. hit a jumper to put MSSU up 16-13 at the midway point of the first half.

Following that score, Winston Dessesow nailed a three to extend it. After a Lincoln basket, Parker Long scored three the hard way, making a jumper in traffic and converting the free throw. Darius Dawson then made another jumper and Dessesow drained another from behind the arc, making it 27-17 MSSU with 6:29 on the clock. Martin Macenis scored four in the final two minutes of the first, and Avery Taggart made a shot in the final seconds to give the Lions a 37-30 lead at the break.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first, as the Lions went on a 9-0 run to kick things off. Vinson Sigmon Jr. scored five of those, and free throws by Darius Dawson and Avery Taggart did the rest. A possession later, Dawson hit a three to make it 49-33 MSSU. The Blue Tigers cut it to six with 11:12 on the clock, but Winston Dessesow made another three to get the lead back to nine with less than 10 minutes remaining.  

A few minutes later, it was Dessesow again with a three to boost the lead back to double digits. The teams went back and forth for most of the final minutes, as Lincoln got within two at the 3:00 mark and again with 2:26 on the clock. Shortly after that, Darius Dawson timed his jump perfectly, grabbing an offensive rebound and slamming it down on the same leap. A Lincoln turnover then led to a Vinson Sigmon Jr. jumper to make it a six point game. Although LU cut it back to four again, Sigmon Jr. made a couple of big layups off of Blue Tiger turnovers to all but seal it for the Lions. Martin Macenis made a couple more free throws and Lincoln hit one more three later, making it an 83-77 final score. 

Darius Dawson was the team leader with 27 points, making 14 of 16 free throws. He also had 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Vinson Sigmon Jr. contributed 18 points on 8-15 shooting, adding 5 rebounds. Avery Taggart and Winston Dessesow each finished with 12, Taggart adding 6 rebounds and 6 assists to his line. Martin Macenis recorded 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, and 2 steals.  The team shot just below 50% from the field and went 25-31 from the free throw line. Parker Long flew around all over the court, recording a game-high 9 rebounds in the win. 

The Lions will be back at home on Saturday, playing host to the Central Missouri Mules. This will be the second meeting between the teams this season, scheduled for a 3:30pm start. 

The Missouri Southern men's basketball season is presented by Arvest Bank, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.
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