Box Score The Central Missouri men's basketball team used its advantage in the paint to propel it to a 77-58 win over Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon in Warrensburg, Mo.

The two teams were tied at eight at the first media timeout, but the Mules went on an 11-2 run after the break and the Lions would never get within seven the rest of the way. Lindenwood trailed 41-27 at halftime and was outscored by five in the second half.

Central Missouri outrebounded Lindenwood by a 39-26 margin, and the Mules had 12 offensive rebounds which led to 24 second-chance points. The Lions were also outscored 38-14 in points in the paint.

Darris Smith led the Lindenwood offense with 11 points and two assists. Aaron Ramirez was also in double-figures with 10 points and had a team-high seven rebounds and three steals. Brandon Marquardt came off the bench to score nine points, including hitting three-of-six from three-point range. Tyler Ressel finished with eight points and Marcus Hinton had seven.

Lindenwood falls to 8-12 on the season and 3-7 in conference play. The Lions return to Hyland Arena on Thursday evening to take on Northwest Missouri.