JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Jaylon Smith scored 37 points and Anthony Virdure had a double-double as the Lincoln men's basketball team closed its non-conference slate with a 99-68 win over Robert Morris-Peoria on Thursday night (Dec. 29).

The 37 points are a career-high for Smith, who also grabbed five rebounds and recorded a pair of steals. Virdure, meanwhile, finished with 14 points and 11 assists while grabbing five rebounds and recording a block and a steal.

Chase Morfeld also finished in double-figures, as he scored 17 points to go with five rebounds. Rod Ollison led Lincoln with seven rebounds and added five points while Alexander Nailes provided five rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Lincoln (9-4) shot .500 from the floor, including making 11 three-pointers, and held Robert Morris-Peoria (2-9) to .446 shooting overall and .200 shooting from three-point range. Lincoln also posted a 46-35 advantage in rebounding and forced the Eagles into 17 turnovers.

Maurice Mason added eight points, four boards and two assists to the winning effort while Tacourrus Mattox rounded out LU's starters with two points and three rebounds. Kevin Bolen came off the bench to contribute six points and three rebounds while O'Shai Clark provided four points, four boards, a steal and an assist. Deionte Wilson and Darrius Spencer each scored three points, with Wilson also grabbing a rebound.

The game was close at the beginning, as Robert Morris-Peoria led 12-10 about seven minutes into the half, and tied the score at 21-all with 9:34 until halftime. After a trey by Morfeld, the Eagles came back with a pair of layups to re-take the lead, 25-24, and later traded buckets with the Blue Tigers to go up 27-25 with just under eight minutes to play in the half.

Smith put the Blue Tigers on top for good over the next few minutes, scoring 15 of Lincoln's next 18 points to put LU ahead 41-29. The Blue Tigers out-scored the Eagles, 11-5, to end the first half, and then scored 47 more points over the game's final 20 minutes to earn a win in its final game of the 2016 calendar year.

Lincoln will resume MIAA play next Thursday (Jan. 5), as the Blue Tigers host Central Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. CST.