Men's bowling won the Blue and Gold Classic tournament while the ladies earned a third place finish at the event in South Bend, Indiana January 21-22.  It was the sixth tournament win of the season for the Lions and their first tier one “major” victory of the year as they finished on top of a field of 66 teams.

Lindenwood bowled solidly on Saturday, posting a six-game total of 6,608 that included a high of 1,173 for day, but the Lions found themselves trailing Robert Morris University (Ill.) by 146 and only ahead of third place Morehead State by six pins.  Lindenwood continued its strong performance on the second day of the event and exploded for a tournament high of 1,269 in game two on Sunday on the way to a nine-game total of 10,005.  The performance boosted the Lions to the win as they held off a surging Saginaw Valley State team that came from almost 250 pins back to finish just four pins behind Lindenwood in second place.  Robert Morris was third while Morehead State and Wichita State rounded out the top five.

Brad Miller led the Lions and earned his fourth All-Tournament Team honor of the season by finishing fourth out of 436 bowlers with an average of 234.4 ( total of 2,110).  Three other Lindenwood men finished in the top 25 with Jeremy Zimmerly in sixth with a 231.8 average (2,086 total), Ray Spink in 12^th with a 220.2 average (1,982 total) and Dan Lemiesz in 21^st with a 218.2 average (1,964 total).

Meanwhile, the Lady Lions started off the tournament blazing as they shot games of 1,077 and 1,103 out of the gate to open a 100+ pin lead, but they couldn't keep the momentum going and found themselves sitting in third place behind Robert Morris and Wichita State with a day one total of 5,978.  Lindenwood continued to struggle on Sunday, but held on to third place in the 44 team field with a nine-game total of 8,786 to finish 312 behind tournament winner Wichita State. The Shockers rallied in the final game to finish just one pin ahead of Robert Morris.  William Penn University and Florida State rounded out the top five.

Amanda Greene led the Lady Lions with a 211 average (1,899 total) and earned her seventh All-Tournament Team honor of the season as she finished third in the field of 287 bowlers.  Amanda Chamberlin was 13^th with an average of 196.2 (1,766 total).

Lindenwood bowling is back in action this weekend as the Lions host the 3^rd Annual Lion's Classic January 28-29.  Competition begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning at St. Charles Lanes and Plaza Lanes in St. Charles, Mo.