Lindenwood’s men’s basketball team lost their first home game since Dec. 31 against SIUE on Jan. 18 by a score of 78-59.
The loss moves the team to an overall record of 7-11 on the season and gives them a current two-game losing streak. They are 3-4 when playing at the Hyland Arena this season.
SIUE controlled the game out of the gate, taking a 40-24 lead when the buzzer sent the teams to halftime. Junior Jaylon McDaniel was responsible for each of Lindenwood’s first nine baskets of the game, scoring each in the first five minutes of the match. While Lindenwood did hold a temporary lead by a score of 9-8, the defense slipped in the next few minutes of play, leading to a 21-9 SIUE game. Over the course of the next ten minutes, three Lions drained points. Senior Darius Beane put up three successful free throws in the half and added a two-pointer. McDaniels added two more points on a layup, and senior Keenon Cole drained six points, two by way of free throws. To close out the half, sophomore Tommie Williams drained a two-point jumper in the paint, with the quarter ending shortly after. In the half, the Lions shot at a 31 percent field goal rate, and a 66 percent free throw rate.
In the second half of play, McDaniels again started strong, scoring another two-pointer in the first eight seconds. In the following five minutes, Beane drained a two-point shot, quickly followed by a three-pointer by sophomore Jeremiah Talton. After a brief three-minute scoring hiatus by both teams, junior Isaac Ondekane scored on a jumper from the paint, quickly followed by Williams, who did the same. Cole added two points on a free throw to make the score 52-37 with roughly 10 minutes left to play. As the game winded down, Lindenwood added 22 more points, six by Cole, four by Williams, four by Beane, six by Talton, two each for Keith Haymon II and Colin Ruffin. The team cleaned up their successful field goal percentage in the half, improving to 40 percent. They also shot at 25 percent successful three-pointers, and 83 percent on their free throws.
On the game, Cole and McDaniel led the team in scoring with 14 and 13 points respectively, and Talton led the team with successful three-pointers, with three. Cole and Williams led the team with rebounds, with Cole grabbing nine, and Williams with seven. On defense, three Lions recorded a steal in the game, coming from Talton, Williams, and junior Nathan Johnson Jr.
The Lions return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 3:30 p.m. as they set to face off with Eastern Illinois University.
