Central Washington defeated Lindenwood-Belleville 45-12 Thursday night in Illinois in the first of a two-game Midwest trip for the CWU Wildcats.

This was the only 15s game of the spring for Lindenwood-Belleville, and they fronted up admirably against a bigger, and very physical CWU squad. With Reece Smith and Alex Quinn putting in good performances, the Lynx hung tough but were ultimately outmatched.

CWU Head Coach Todd Thornley took only 23 players on the trip, and so wasn't selecting down against L-B. On Saturday they will run out the same squad against Lindenwood St. Charles. The Wildcats were very strong in the set piece, and hurt Lindenwood-Belleville at the lineout especially. With a size advantage in addition to having worked hard on their set piece, CWU had tons of ball, and ran out to a 24-0 lead before two L-B tries closed the gap to 24-12.

But three tries later in the game put the match in Central's favor. Sophomore flanker Fabian Lumsden, who hails from London, England, was very good for Central.

"It was a scrappy game, but overall it was a solid team performance," said CWU Head Coach Todd Thornley. "We just lacked clinical finishing at times. Hopefully we can recover and be a lot more polished on Saturday."

CWU plays Lindenwood St. Charles Saturday night at 7pm CT in St. Charles, Mo.