The Lindenwood University Lions are the 2014-15 Men’s DI College 7s champions after defeating Davenport 28-10 in the final.

The Lions were defensively sound all weekend and while they weren’t flashy, they could bring the flags when needed. Captain Sebastien Kalm was a steadying influence all weekend, especially in a tense quarterfinal that Lindenwood won 21-17 over AIC. That was a game that went back and forth, and wasn’t decided until the final minute. Then in the semis, they edged Utah 12-10. Only in the final, it seemed, did they win in emphatic style - shutting down Davenport danger man JP Eloff, for the most part, and recycling quickly, forcing Davenport penalties, and punishing those penalties with tries.

Kalm scored the opening try in the final, and while Eloff replied with a lovely angled run and fake switch move, it was Lindenwood that scored next - Mickey Bateman put on a little shake-and-bake move and raced in.

Up 14-5, Lindenwood just clamped down on Davenport, dominating field position and making their tackles. Smart hands put Kolton Nelson away, and while Davenport replied through Mason Baum, they could only score out wide, and thus couldn’t get the conversions over. 

Late in the game, a weird moment when a Davenport player knocked on after tapping quickly. He stopped, frustrated, the Lindenwood players stopped, too, and then everyone realized referee Brian Zapp was playing advantage. Lindenwood eventually put Cameron Reed over to seal it 28-10.

Bateman was the deserved MVP, putting in a huge amount of work not only as a halfback or first receiver, but as a defender, clear out artist, and all-around support man. He scored several tries because he was in support, but it seemed that whenever something good happened for Lindenwood, he was in the middle of it.

“I suppose attack was part of the focus but at the end of the day our defense was the strongest part of our play,” said Bateman, sporting a nice bruise and cut on his nose. “It was hard on us. We had injuries from the 15s season. We trained hard for two weeks after the 15s season, no break. We came here determined to give it our best shot, but we didn’t know how we’d do. Then we won three out of three, and then beat AIC, and it seemed like maybe we could do it.”

Lindenwood was a bit of a surprise entity, but maybe they shouldn’t have been. They won the Plate at the Las Vegas Invitational and they didn’t have Bateman in that squad. Obviously Bateman, who received the MVP award from USA 7s team captain Madison Hughes, who was in attendance, made a difference.

 

Lindenwood’s run to the title:

Pool Play

Lindenwood 17 Central Florida 7

Lindenwood 32 Arkansas 0

Lindenwood 35 Stony Brook 0

 

Quarterfinals Lindenwood 21 AIC 17

Semifinals Lindenwood 12 Utah 10

Final Lindenwood 28 Davenport 10

 

Final Order of Finish:

1. Lindenwood (Cup)

2. Davenport

3. Central Washington

4. Utah

5. St. Mary’s (Plate)

6. Arizona State 

7. AIC & San Diego State

9. Wisconsin (Bowl)

10. Central Florida

11. Miami (OH) & West Virginia

13. Arkansas & Mississippi State

15. Iowa & Cal Poly

17. Bowling Green (Shield) 

18. Texas A&M

19. Texas State & Nevada

21. North Texas & Stony Brook

23. Colorado State & Sacramento State