St. Louis, Mo. -- Elyjah Clark scored 23 and Kinzer Lambert had 21 as the No. 25 Lions shot 51 percent from the field in an 85-76 win at Missouri-St. Louis Thursday night.
Southern (2-1) went 14-of-33 from the three-point line, making 8-16 in the first half. Clark scored 23 and had seven rebounds, four assists and three seals, playing all 40 minutes of the game. Lambert scored 21 points and had five rebounds, five assists and a block in the game. Cam Martin battled foul trouble, but scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Reggie Tharp had 12 points and five assists, to go with two steals and a 4-of-7 mark from the field. Braelon Walker had eight points and five rebounds.
UMSL (3-1) had four score in double-figures, led by 20 points from Ronnie Carson, all of the bench.
The Lions started the game on fire, leading 17-4 early on as Southern had five three pointers in the first four and a half minutes. A pair of free throws from Enis Memic gave the Lions an 11 point lead with 8:15 left on the clock, but the Tritons went on a 15-5 run to cut the lead to just one (39-38) with 4:22 to go.
UMSL had a one point lead with a minute to go, but a layup from Clark with 25 seconds to go in the half gave the Lions a 51-50 lead at the break.
The Tritons led 58-56 with 16:11 left in the second half, but Southern used a 10-2 run to lead 66-60 with 11:47 left on the clock after a layup from Dexter Frisbie. The Lions' lead was just one (68-67) with nine minutes left, but a 14-5 run by the Lions over the next five minutes pushed the Lions' lead to 12 (82-70) after a layup from Martin. Southern made its free throws as the game wound down to secure the win.
The Lions switched to a 2-3 defense in the second half and that helped in limiting the Tritons to just 26 points in the half after 50 in the first half.
Southern shot 51 percent from the field and 42 percent from long-range as the Lions made 14 three's in the game. The Lions had an 18-8 advantage in second-chance points, despite being out rebounded on the offensive boards 11-8.
The Lions will be in action next week as the team travels to Puerto Rico to participate in the Puerto Rico Classic. The Lions will take on the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, Minot State and Minnesota-Crookston as part of the tournament. You can catch the action live on the Missouri Southern Radio Network for the games against UPR-Rio Piedras and Minot State.
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