ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Jonell Burton and Marcel Burton combined for 44 points, but Missouri Western held off the Lincoln men's basketball team's second half rally to hand the Blue Tigers an 81-71 loss on Wednesday (Feb. 5).

The Griffons broke a 28-28 tie by ending the first half on a 17-7 run for a 45-35 lead at the break. The Blue Tigers came out firing in the second half, scoring on three of their first four possessions to pull within three. An old-fashioned three-point play started MWSU on a big run of its own, as the Griffons took a 56-42 advantage with 14:18 to play.

Missouri Western (12-11, 8-4 MIAA) kept the lead in double digits until Marcel Burton hit a three-pointer at the 9:44 mark. Marcel Burton finished the night with 21 points and five boards as the Blue Tigers shot .455 for the game from three-point range. Lincoln (8-13, 5-7 MIAA) would eventually pull within six, but the Griffons used one last 17-7 run to get the lead back into double digits.

Jonell Burton scored a game-high 23 points, including going 11-for-11 at the line, and pulled down six rebounds to go with a block and three steals. L'Kielynn Taylor led LU with nine boards and chipped in nine points to go with a pair of rejections, two assists and a steal. Cameron Potts, meanwhile, contributed six points, five boards and two assists,

Alafia Oluwasogo came off the bench to provide 11 points and five rebounds. The reserves made a big difference in the contest, however, as Missouri Western's bench out-scored Lincoln's by 27. The Blue Tigers won the rebounding battle, 40-37, and scored 16 points of 12 MWSU turnovers. LU also shot .815 from the line, but just .361 from the field.

Lamont Ballard, Jr. made a free throw and grabbed three rebounds while dishing two assists, and Marcus Cohen finished with two boards and a dime. Zack Fields also had an assist.

Lincoln next travels to Maryville, Mo. to play Northwest Missouri on Saturday (Feb. 8) at 3:30 p.m. CST.