MINA SAN NICOLÁS LEYVA | Reporter

The Lindenwood billiards team had their second competition of the season on Saturday against Melton’s Maulers, an independent group of experienced pool players.

The Lions finished with a 14-5 win in the Lindenwood Billiards Arena.

The tournament’s format consisted of a practice match of 15 ball, followed by singles matches and doubles matches. For 15 ball, each player accumulates certain points depending on how many balls they pocketed. Winners of singles matches earned one point and winners doubles matches earned half a point.

In 15 ball, the balls are stacked in a diamond pattern with the 15 ball in the center, and the rules from nine ball apply, with the lowest numbered ball hit first, and so on.

This is a new format that is developing for the upcoming Midwest Collegiate Billiards Conference, which is the first one that collegiate billiards will be a part of. The conference is being organized by head coach Mark Wilson, and schools like Purdue, Missouri S&T and colleges from Illinois are participating.

Lindenwood’s lineup for the tournament against the Maulers consisted of Madison Bond, April Larson, Megan Thomas, JP Portwood, Taren Stewart and Hunter Davis. Wilson said the tournament’s purpose is to have fun and give the players more experience.

On Sept. 15, the Lions competed in their first tournament against Durbin’s Destroyers in Illinois.  The competition was against a professional team, and the Lions were challenged from the beginning, Wilson said.  Their 23-9 loss was their third defeat by the Destroyers since Lindenwood beat them in March 2017.  

The Lions are practicing three times a week and are constantly trying to improve themselves to defend their national titles. Both the men’s and women’s teams have won nationals five years in a row.

UPDATED Sept. 30, 2018, at 11:54 a.m. with information about the contest in Illinois.