The final home game of the season is always a special one, especially for the seniors playing their last home game of their careers.

On Feb. 26, two Missouri Southern seniors, Zach Scheirer and Jamahr Warren, were honored before the game against the University of Missouri-Rolla. For both, it was a special moment in their college careers. They both transferred to Southern before the 2001-2002 season and contributed to the success the team has had over the last two years.

“The last couple of years went by fast, but they were a great experience,” Scheirer said. “We’ve worked hard and been successful. Hopefully, we’ve added to the program and kept it moving in a forward direction.”

Warren felt the same as Scheirer about his time at Southern.

“I have matured a lot since I transferred from junior college,” Warren said. “Hopefully it won’t end here. We want to continue as far into post-season play as we can.”

The 71-56 win over the visiting Miners was an all-around good game for the Lions (18-8, 10-7 MIAA).

Southern head coach Robert Corn said the team did what it needed to do at home. He said he was happy the team was able to play well before it ends its regular season on the road at Washburn University.

“We did a nice job of making the extra pass tonight, and that got us a lot of wide open looks at 3-point shots,” Corn said. “We also improved toning in our transition game and our rebounding on both ends of the court. Those are things we need to do to continue to be successful.”

The Lions came out strong in the first half. The Miners did, however, mount a little scoring drive, while some of Southern’s starters were out to bring the halftime score to 35-32.

The second half was pretty much the same for the Lions as the first. Southern quickly increased its lead in the second half to 12, and led by as much as 20 going into the closing minutes of the game.

The Lions were led offensively, fittingly enough, by Warren who scored 23 points in his last performance at Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

“I wanted to leave a little stamp for people to remember me by,” Warren said. “I wasn’t here long enough to break any records, so I wanted to go out strong.”

The Lions will end their regular season on the road on Saturday at Washburn.

The Lions will probably end up fourth or fifth in the conference.

That means they will begin the Sonic/MIAA Championship tournament at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, March 7 at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.