In what turned out to be an opening round game in the USA Rugby D1A Playoffs, the Lions fended off Davenport 36-14 Saturday afternoon in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

After a sluggish first half, Lindenwood pulled away in the second, but it was the Panthers that scored first on a converted try in the 11^th minute.  The Lions didn't have the ball much in the early going and were forced to defend their zone time and time again, but they finally broke the shutout when Wesley White dotted down in the 35^th minute.  The try went unconverted, leaving Lindenwood trailing 7-5.  That deficit didn't last long, though.  Just three minutes later Nick Feakes scored to give the Lions a 10-7 lead that would be carried into the second 40 minutes. 

The Lions did a much better job of moving the ball from sideline to sideline which made it easier to string together phases.  As a result, the offense opened up and results came quickly.  Chris Schoeman crossed the line in the 42^nd minute and with a Feakes conversion, increased the Lindenwood advantage to 17-7.  Just three minutes later, Schoeman did it again and it was 22-7.  He scored his third try in a row in the 55^th minute to push the lead to 22 points with the conversion before Davenport answered with the team's only points of the second half in the 65^th minute, set up by a Lions turnover, to make it 29-14.  That would be as close as the Panthers would get.  Colten Hernandez sealed the match with a try in the 71^st minute and a successful conversion gave Lindenwood the final margin of victory.

Junior flyback Nick Feakes summarized the game.

"It wasn't a pretty win, but we dug our heels in and fought when we needed to," he said.  "Our forwards were outstanding, scoring five of our six tries. They worked hard all game and were rewarded with five-pointers."

Senior hooker Jeremy Leber added his thoughts.

"I was very proud of the whole performance of the team and our ability to overcome a few early errors," he said.  "Davenport is a tremendous program and we were challenged for the full 80 in both attack and defense.  We were able to face adversity and play our style of rugby, which is perfect preparation for the remainder of the playoffs."

With the win, the Lions improved to 36-10-2 overall for the season.  After a weekend off, they'll return to the pitch for the next round of the USA Rugby D1A Playoffs April 22.  It's a match-up against Mid-South Conference foe Life University on the road in Marietta, Georgia.  The opening kickoff is currently scheduled for 1 p.m. that Saturday afternoon.