COLUMBIA, Ky. – A strong interior presence helped the Lindsey Wilson men's basketball team to a 71-55 victory over Shawnee State (Ohio) on Thursday night at Biggers Sports Center.

The Blue Raiders (19-10, 6-7 Mid-South Conference) scored 48 of their points in the paint while matching a season-high with 10 team blocks, six of which came from Nic Brown, a new career high. Shawnee State drops to 8-18 with the loss and 1-12 in conference play.

Along with his six blocks, Brown scored 14 points and grabbed 15 boards en route to his fourth double-double of the season. Bryan Wallace led the team with 18 points while dishing out six assists. His six assists moved him into the program's top 10 with 219 career assists, passing former Blue Raider Keshaun Mayfield (2013-15). Allen Costley (14) and Dmitry Utolin (13) also went into double figures.

It was tough sledding offensively for the two teams in the opening 20 minutes of play as both squads failed to reach the 40.0 percent shooting mark. Lindsey Wilson shot 35.1 percent (13-for-37) from the field in the half, while Shawnee State shot at a 25.7 percent clip (9-for-35). The Bears held the three-point shooting advantage, hitting 4-of-13 attempts compared to the Blue Raiders' 1-for-9 effort. Lindsey Wilson did record four steals, four blocks, and committed just three turnovers in the opening half, while also pounding the paint for 24 of its 30 first-half points.

The Blue Raiders took their largest lead of the opening half following a strong defensive stand. Charles Sutton and Brown rejected back-to-back shots, which led to a fast-break layup for Utolin where he was fouled. He was successful on the ensuing free throw to make it 26-20 with 2:25 to play in the half. A field goal by Costly pushed it to 28-20 before Shawnee State outscored LWC 6-2 in the final 1:17 to make it a 30-26 halftime Lindsey Wilson lead.

After an exchange of points to start the second half, a steal by Wallace led to a fast-break layup for Sutton. That basket sparked a 12-4 Blue Raider run over the next five minutes to give Lindsey Wilson a 46-34 lead with 12:11 to play, the final six LWC points coming from Wallace.

From there Lindsey Wilson was able to keep Shawnee State at a comfortable distance as the Bears got no closer than seven points at the 9:25 mark. The lead fluctuated and reached as many as 13 before a pair of Utolin free throws pushed the lead to 67-53 with 1:30 to play. Shawnee State scored just two more points the remainder of the game as the Blue Raiders completed the regular season sweep of the Bears.

Tamal Watkins led Shawnee State with a game-high 19 points in the loss.

With tonight's win and based on the results from around the conference, the Blue Raiders are locked in as the No. 5 seed at next week's MSC Tournament in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Lindsey Wilson concludes the regular season schedule on Saturday when the Blue Raiders host Georgetown (Ky.) on Senior Day at 4 p.m. CT.