CALEB RIORDAN | Reporter
In a close weekend tournament, the Lions lost both games on their trip to Mankato, Minnesota.
Their first game was against Minnesota State University. The Lions started the game scoring strong, led by senior guard Brad Newman. He scored 19 points in the first half to give the Lions a 49-40 lead over the Mavericks. Senior Chandler Diekvoss followed behind Newman with 11 points.
Both Newman and Diekvoss hit 50 percent of their field goals, going 20-40 in the half, and 7-15 from beyond the arc.
Junior guard Kevin Krieger led the way for the Mavericks at the half, going 6-7 and scoring 13 points.
Right out of the half, the Mavericks were poised to make a run. They outscored the Lions 24-10 over the first eight minutes of the second half, and took a 64-59 lead. The score stayed close for the remainder of the game. The Mavericks were up by three when Newman forced a desperation three to try and tie the game in the final seconds, but missed.
The Lions shot 3-11 from three-point range in the second half, and 12-33 overall from the field. Newman was able to add nine more points to his total and end the game with 28. Diekvoss scored 10 more in the second half, and ended the game with 21 points and seven rebounds.
Junior forward Cameron Kirksey led the comeback for the Mavericks, scoring 14 of his 18 points in the second half. Krieger followed closely behind with 16 points. Senior Carlos Anderson and junior Juwan McCloud scored 15 each.
Lindenwood had the edge in second chance points, outscoring the Mavericks 19-14. Minnesota won the battle of the benches, outscoring the Lions bench 20-15. The Lions outscored the Mavericks in the paint 34-24. Combined, the two teams only had two fast break points the entire game.
In the second game, the Lions ran up against 18th ranked St. Cloud State University. The Lions trailed 46-26 at the half. Diekvoss and sophomore Diego Womack led the way in scoring with six and seven points. Redshirt senior Gage Davis got off to a hot start for the Huskies scoring 17 in the first half.
The Huskies extended their lead to as much as 26 points until the Lions were able to make a run. The Lions eventually cut the lead to only six after a 33-13 run. This was as close as they would get, as the Lions lost the game by a score of 83-75.
The Lions outscored the Huskies in the second half 49-37. Deikvoss had a huge second half scoring 23 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He finished the game with 29 points and 16 rebounds, both career highs. Lindenwood again won the battle of points in the paint, outscoring the Huskies 46-36. Davis led the way for the Huskies scoring points in the win.
“St. Cloud State is the best team we have played all year thus far,” head coach Lancy Randall said. “They were dynamite in the first half, and we struggled to contain them. I love the way we battled back in the second half. Diekvoss was a monster for us.”
Next for the Lions, they travel to Jefferson City for two games over the weekend. They run up against Lemoyne-Owen and Lane colleges.
