Box Score The Lindenwood men's basketball team (1-1) earned its first win of the season on Saturday, as 35 points from Jacoby Ross led the Lions to an 83-78 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan (1-1) inside Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
 
GAME OVERVIEW
Ross was dominant from the start of the game, as he closed out the first half with 18 points.  Ross was 8-of-10 from the field, and 2-of-4 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.  Lindenwood was outscored in the pain 20-10, and allowed 13 fast-break points, which resulted in a 38-32 halftime score.  Kevin Caldwell Jr. pulled down five boards, while Frazier Ott tallied a pair of blocks down low.
 
The Lions built a five-point lead early, but the Panthers took a five-point lead of their own near the halfway point of the first half.  Kentucky Wesleyan carried a six-point lead into the break, after shooting nearly 50 percent from the field.  Lindenwood caught fire quickly to start the second half, which started with a three-point field goal by Ross after just 10 seconds.  Ross hit another deep ball before Karrington Davis knocked down a three-pointer with 17:38 to give Lindenwood a 43-42 lead.
 
The Lions began to hit the boards hard, and it paid dividends as Lindenwood held on to its slim lead.  With 10:31 to go in the second half, Keyyaun Batchman knocked down a three pointer to put Lindenwood up 59-50.  The Lions maintained a multi-possession lead until the Panthers pulled within two points with 5:25 remaining.  Less than two minutes later, Lindenwood concluded a 7-0 run to regain a nine-point advantage.  In the final three minutes, the Lions made all 10 of their free throw attempts to solidify the five-point victory.
 
Ross ended the night with 35 points on 12-of-15 shooting, as he was an efficient 5-of-8 from behind the arc.  Burrell registered another double-double, as he dropped 22 points with 10 rebounds, which was the exact total from his first game of the season.  Burrell added three assists and two steals, as he was a smooth 14-of-14 from the charity stripe.  Ott did the dirty work for the Lions, as the product of Chaminade tallied four blocks and five rebounds.  Davis and Caldwell Jr. combined for 13 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists.
 
GAME LEADERS
Jacoby Ross (35 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST)
Romelo Burrell (22 PTS, 10 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK)
Frazier Ott (3 PTS, 5 REB, 4 BLK, 1 AST)
 
QUOTABLE
"I'm proud of our guys for bouncing back and earning a hard-fought win tonight against a really good Kentucky Wesleyan team," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman.  "We had a couple of great individual performances, but I thought it was a great team effort from everyone involved to help us get the win."
 
UP NEXT
Lindenwood will remain in Hyland Arena on Tuesday, as the Lions host University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy at 7:30 p.m. in St. Charles, Mo.