JOPLIN, Mo. - The Lincoln men's basketball team knocked off Missouri Southern, 75-72, on Saturday (Jan. 14) to earn its third-consecutive victory and its second-straight road win.

Tacourrus Mattox scored 10 points in the first half and finished with 20 for the day to go with a team-high nine rebounds. Mattox also dished a pair of assists while Anthony Virdure finished second on the scoring chart with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Saturday's victory improved Lincoln to 12-5 overall and 5-3 in MIAA play, and gave LU its first back-to-back road conference wins since 2004-05. This also marks the first time since 1986-87 that the Blue Tigers have won back-to-back MIAA road games. Missouri Southern, meanwhile, fell to 10-7 on the season and 4-4 in league play.

Lincoln led from nearly start to finish, as Missouri Southern forced four ties throughout the afternoon but never took the lead. The Blue Tigers held a 10-point advantage midway through the first half, but the Lions rallied to cut their deficit down to 31-28 with just over four minutes until halftime. Jaylon Smith ended that run by hitting a three-pointer, and Mattox made a layup as time expired to send LU into the break on top, 40-28.

In the second half, the Blue Tigers led by as many as 14, but Missouri Southern rallied to tie the score at 70 with just over two minutes to play. The teams traded layups before Virdure sank a bucket with 1:44 remaining to take a two-point lead. After Virdure grabbed a rebound on the defensive end, Smith was sent to the line, but went one-and-one. On MSSU's final offensive series, Richie Lewis blocked a three-point shot and collected a rebound off another long-range try to seal LU's victory.

Smith finished with 14 points and six rebounds while Lewis provided three points, three boards and four assists. Chase Morfeld added 10 points and Maurice Mason chipped in nine to go with a pair of assists. As a team, Lincoln only had five turnovers on the afternoon while generating 12 takeaways, and made eight of its 16 three-point attempts.

The Blue Tigers will return home on Wednesday night (Jan. 18) to host Central Missouri at 5:30 p.m. CST. That evening will be Lincoln's Blue & White Out game, and fans are encouraged to pack Jason Gym with their favorite blue and white Blue Tiger apparel.