Jimmy Roth and Matt Lassen combined for 23 points and led Linn-Mar past Xavier, 52-44, Friday night in a Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball game at Xavier's Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

Roth and Lassen scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Lions (9-8, 8-4).

Xavier (8-9, 4-8) was paced by Adam McDermott with 14 points and Matt Nelson chipped in with 12.  Nelson was a force on the boards and had some clutch hook shots to help his field goal shooting.

Linn-Mar freshman Jordan Bohannon hit two long bombs for six points and kept the game deadlocked at 14 after one stanza.

McDermott countered for the Saints in the second quarter with two 3-pointers of his own. The game remained knotted at 20-20 before halftime Hall of Fame festivities got underway.

“Our goal was to keep getting better as the game wore on and as our season goes on,” said Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson.

The Lions improved as the game wore on outscoring Xavier 16-12 in the third quarter.

Reggie Schulte's two free throws for Xavier closed the gap to 36-34, before a 3-pointer by Roth and a quick steal and conversion by Nic Uhlir propelled Linn-Mar to a 43-34 lead, its biggest of the contest.

Linn-Mar won the game at the free-throw line, converting 15 of 21 chances. Roth had six makes without a miss.

LINN-MAR  (52):  Nic Uhlir 3 0-1 8, Nate Dick 0 0-0 0, Matt Lassen 2 5-6 10, Jordan Bohannon 3 0-0 9, Jon Schlotterback 1 3-4 5, Jimmy Roth 3 6-6 13, Matt Meier 0 0-0 0, Derik Gogg 3 1-4 7, Ryan Schmidt 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 15-21 52.

XAVIER (44): Matt Downey 0 0-0 0, Trey Sampson 2 0-0 4, Calvin Winker 0 0-0 0, Adam McDermott 5 2-2 14, Matt Nelson 6 0-0 12, Corbin Woods 3 0-0 8, Andrew Bisenius 0 0-0 0, Reggie Schulte 1 2-2 4, Robbie Thinnes 0 2-2 2, Frank Hill 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 6-6 44.

Halftime -  Linn-Mar 20, Xavier 20. 3-point goals - Linn-Mar 7 (Bohannon 3, Uhlir 2, Lassen 1, Roth 1), Xavier 4 (McDermott 2, Woods 2).