Lindenwood senior Brandon Suggs had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the Lions’ 89-79 win over Westminster, Tuesday night at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo. (Photo courtesy: Lindenwood Athletics)

Final	1	2	T
WESTMINSTER (3-3)	40	39	79
LINDENWOOD (4-1)	51	38	89

Torrance Terrell
Staff Writer

ST. CHARLES, MO — The Lindenwood Lions had five players score in double figures, hit a total of 15 three-pointers, and used a 51-point first half — the team’s highest scoring half of the season — to roar past the visiting Westminster Blue Jays to win a non-conference NCAA men’s college basketball game, Tuesday night at Hyland Arena.

Jacoby Ross scored 18 points and had four assists, and Romelo Burrell added 15 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Lions to their fourth victory in a row.

Teammates Brandon Trimble (15 points), Kevin Caldwell, Jr. (14 points), and Brandon Suggs (11 points) joined Ross and Burrell as Lindenwood’s double-figure scorers in a game the Lions led from start to finish.

“It’s nice to head into the Thanksgiving break with a win,” Lindenwood head coach Kyle Gerdeman said, in a statement released by the Lindenwood athletic program. “Again, I thought we had a core group of guys that were really engaged and played well for long stretches.  The consistent improvement is what we are after, both individually and as a team, and I think we got more of that tonight.”

Lindenwood began the game on a 9-2 run to grab quick control, but saw Westminster battle back to get with four points midway through the half. The Lions responded with a 20-10 run that pushed their lead to as many as 14 points, before closing the half with a 51-40 lead.

The two teams traded baskets for most of the second half, until a three-pointer by Caldwell, followed by a steal by Caldwell that led to a fast-break layup and three-point play by Trimble lifted the Lindenwood lead to 19 points with just under 7 minutes to go.

The Blue Jays went on a 12-2 run of their own to get within nine points with three minutes to go, but that was as close as they’d get, as Lindenwood answered with a jumper by freshman Frazier Ott and a rally-killing three by Trimble with a minute to go to close out the game.

The victory was Lindenwood’s fourth in a row and will send the Lions into conference play with an overall 4-1 record. Lindenwood’s only loss this season came in the season opener to Wisconsin-Parkside.

The Lions will now get to enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend off, before returning to the court on Monday, November 29, for the first of three important Great Lakes Valley Conference games next week.

Lindenwood will begin the week with a matchup against Maryville on Monday. That game will tipoff at 7:30 p.m., following a women’s game between the two schools that same evening at Hyland Arena.

Then on Thursday, December 2, the Lions will play Quincy at Hyland Arena. That contest will be the same scenario, beginning at 7:30 p.m., following a women’s game that will begin at 5:30.

And Lindenwood will close out the week with a huge matchup against its crosstown rival, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, on Saturday, December 4. That game will begin at 3 p.m., and will also follow a women’s game that will begin at 1 p.m. that day.

Westminster 79

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
22	Jaxon Althaus	*	31	10-18	6-11	4-4	1-3	4	3	2	4	1	1	30
03	Emil Spriggs	*	26	4-6	2-3	0-0	0-1	1	3	2	3	0	0	10
14	Landon Harrison	*	24	4-10	0-4	2-2	1-4	5	2	2	1	0	0	10
32	Tre Kempker	*	24	4-7	0-2	2-3	1-2	3	2	2	1	1	0	10
11	Devonte Hubbard	*	12	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-3	3	2	1	1	0	0	0
23	Ethan Thompson		27	3-6	2-5	0-0	0-2	2	0	3	2	0	0	8
10	Coby Williams		13	2-4	0-2	0-0	0-2	2	0	2	0	0	0	4
00	Makygh Galbreath		17	1-1	1-1	0-0	0-7	7	0	1	3	0	0	3
42	Ben Eberlin		13	1-2	0-0	0-2	0-3	3	1	1	0	2	0	2
20	Cade Combs		9	1-1	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	1	0	1	0	0	2
24	Brennan Jeffries		4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	3-1	4	0	0	1	0	0	0
	TOTALS	–	200	30-55	11-28	8-11	6-29	35	14	16	17	4	1	79

Lindenwood 89

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
01	Jacoby Ross	*	27	7-14	4-9	0-0	0-2	2	1	4	1	0	1	18
24	Romelo Burrell	*	31	5-16	2-7	3-3	4-4	8	0	8	1	0	0	15
11	Kevin Caldwell	*	36	5-13	4-7	0-0	1-2	3	3	7	1	0	2	14
22	Brandon Suggs	*	28	5-6	0-0	1-2	6-6	12	1	1	0	3	1	11
10	Karrington Davis	*	18	2-6	1-5	0-0	1-2	3	2	0	0	0	0	5
02	Brandon Trimble		19	5-7	4-6	1-1	0-4	4	2	0	1	0	3	15
15	Frazier Ott		10	3-5	0-0	1-3	1-0	1	3	0	0	0	0	7
05	Anthony Christian		10	2-7	0-0	0-2	4-0	4	0	0	0	0	0	4
13	Trent Champagne		8	0-2	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
25	Keyyaun Batchman		7	0-1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
03	Sherrod Taylor		6	0-2	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-1	2	0	0	1	0	0	0
	TOTALS	–	200	34-79	15-37	6-11	18-21	39	13	22	6	3	8	89

Lindenwood Lions Men’s Basketball Upcoming Schedule

Mon., November 29 — vs. Maryville — 7:30 pm

Thu., December 2 — vs. Quincy — 7:30 pm

Sat., December 4 — vs. UMSL — 3 pm

Tue., December 14 — vs. Christian Brothers — 7 pm

Fri., December 17 — vs. Western Washington in Las Vegas — 8 pm

Sat., December 18 — vs. No. 6 West Texas A&M in Las Vegas — 6 pm

All Lindenwood home basketball games will be played at Hyland Arena