Men's rugby was topped by Life University 24-18 Saturday afternoon in Marietta, Georgia.  The Running Eagles took an early lead and held off a late comeback from the Lions.
 
Life scored the first points of the match on a penalty kick in the sixth minute, but Lindenwood returned the favor off the foot of Nick Feakes after an offside infraction in the 14^th minute.  The Running Eagles took a 10-3 advantage on a try and conversion later in the half, and Feakes booted his second penalty kick for the Lions in the 29^th minute to cut the margin, but Life scored again just three minutes later to take a 17-6 lead to the break.
 
In the second half, the Running Eagles extended their lead with a try and conversion in the 61^st minute before Lindenwood started its comeback.  After several phases, Michael Baska touched down in the right corner and Feakes converted to make it 24-13.  Four minutes later, the Lions took a turnover, and after several phase from the forwards, Colten Hernandez was able to dive in the side of the ruck for five points.  That pulled Lindenwood to within six at 24-18, but that was as close as the Lions could get.
 
Senior Mickey Bateman was positive despite the defeat.
 
"With a new look to our team, it was great to test ourselves against the Running Eagles.  It was a physical encounter and both teams were hungry," he said.  "After falling behind in the first half, we were able to face the adversity and fight back, so it was promising match and great to see that what we have been working on in training is coming together."
 
Head Coach Josh Macy echoed those sentiments.
 
"It was an encouraging day overall. We bested the Running Eagles in a lot of areas of the pitch and heaped pressure onto them for much of the game," he said. "We know they'll come back stronger in a month when we host them, so we have to best their efforts every day from now until then in order to win the next one."
 
With the loss, Lindenwood dropped to 19-7-1 overall for the season.  The team heads to Nevada for the Las Vegas Invitational with preliminary matches scheduled on March 2 at the Star Nursery Fields.  Game one is against St. Bonaventure at 9:20 a.m., followed by Colorado at 12 p.m., and then UNLV at 2:40 p.m.  Results from those games will determine a schedule for the rest of the trip.