It couldn’t have been scripted any better.

Linn-Mar junior Matt Lassen came off the bench at the start of the second quarter Tuesday night and immediately popped in a long 3-pointer.

Just like he used to before a serious head injury in the third game of the season that had kept him out of action for two months.

“Coach told me not to hold back,” said Lassen of his first shot in his first game back. “Andy (Henry) hit me with a nice pass and I just let it loose. It felt good.”

He played in short spurts the rest of the night, but teammate Marcus Paige said his presence was a morale booster as the No. 8 Lions whipped No. 6 Dubuque Senior, 62-55, to tie the Rams atop the MVC Mississippi Division at 10-3 with three games left.

“It was great to have Matt back in there,” said the senior Paige, who again controlled the game and led his team with 23 points.  “He’s a hard-working kid. He’s been working extremely hard. So it was nice to see him get an open look and hit it with confidence.”

Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said Lassen has been lightly practicing the last few weeks and was given final medical clearance to play last week.

“We wanted to wait for a home game with a lot of fans,” the coach said. “It’s been a long recovery process for Matt. It was huge for him, his family and the team to have him back.

“It’s one thing to practice. It’s another to be on the big stage. The fact he made his first (shot) shows he hasn’t lost his confidence.”

Although he was in for a total of less than 10 minutes Tuesday, Robertson said he expects Lassen to gradually see more playing time as Linn-Mar (13-4) makes a run for the conference title going into the substate tournament.  The win over sixth-ranked Dubuque Senior (15-3) was crucial, he said.

“We control our own destiny now,” Robetston noted.

The Lions’ remaining regular season games are with Wasshington and Jefferson and at Dubuque Wahlert.

Senior was a formidable roadblock with five starters (one senior, two juniors and two sophomores) ranging from 6-foot-4 to 6-foot-9.

“They’re huge, and they present some real match-up problems,” Robertson said.  “I thought in the second half we did a lot better job of rebounding. Our team has to have the discipline to put a body on somebody, and we’ve got to be physical.”

The Rams’ burly but quick-footed 6-foot-5 junior Josh Weeber pretty much had his way at the start of the contest, collecting 16 points inside and out in the first half.

Linn-Mar didn’t take its first lead until Henry canned to free throws with 3:49 left in the half to go ahead 20-18.

The Lions heated up in the second half, however, starting off with two quick threes by Jimmy Roth and Zach Martins.  Roth ended up four treys, while Martins and Paige each added two.

Paige was a silent assassin all night, making steals or scoring on dipsy-do drives whenever Senior threatened.

The Rams did close to within three at 54-51 with two minutes to go, but Roth put a nail in the coffin with a 3-pointer.

“Jimmy and Zach had some huge shots for us,” said Paige, who often set them up with passes.  “We got contributions from a lot of guys tonight.”

None, perhaps, was more emotional than Lassen.  When he suffered a concussion in a game with Iowa City West on Dec. 9, there were fears he might not play again.

“I think I’m back 100 percent,” he said Tuesday. “I don’t have any trouble with my balance. I haven’t had any headaches for weeks.

“I just need to get in better shape. But I’ve been working with (trainer) Jill (Hendricks), so I’m pretty close.

“It was hard to sit and watch all those games I missed. It feels tremendous to be back under the lights.”

DUBUQUE SENIOR (55): Domen Zevnik 1 2-2 5, Kyle Haber 2 2-2 6, Josh Weeber 9 6-6 28, Connor Grant 1 2-2 4, Seth Bonifas 5 0-0 10, Kyle Holdridge 0 0-0 0, Drew Anderson 0 0-0 0, Mitch Duve 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 12-12 55.

LINN-MAR (62): Zach Martins 2 0-0 6, Marcus Paige 8 5-6 23, Jimmy Roth 4 0-0 12, Andy Henry 3 2-3 8, Derik Gogg 1 0-0 2, Matt Lassen 1 0-0 3, Nate Dick 0 0-0 0, Matt Meier 2 3-4 8, Jon Schlotterback 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 10-13 62.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 28, Senior 25. 3-point goals – Senior 5 (Weeber 4, Zevnik), Linn-Mar 10 (Roth 4, Martins 2, Paige 2, Lassen, Meier). Total fouls – Senior 16, Linn-Mar 16. Fouled out – Grant.