For the second time this month, Lindenwood’s men’s and women’s basketball teams have lost on the same day, this time coming at the hands of Tennessee Tech University.
The women’s team lost to the Golden Eagles by a score of 82-52, making their season record 6-16. The men lost the second half of the doubleheader by a score of 62-53 in overtime, making their season record 8-17.
In the first game of the afternoon, the women’s team were outscored in each of the four periods. In the first, Lindenwood managed to put up 14 points, as opposed to Tennessee Tech’s 22. Alyssa Nielsen scored six of those 14 points, and led the team in points throughout the game. Also in the quarter, Makayla Wallace and Mykayla Cunningham scored four points. The Lions only managed 10 points in the second quarter, three by Mya Skoff, and two by Nielsen, Wallace, and Mary McGrath, and a successful free throw attempt by Cunningham.
In the first half of play, Lindenwood made 13 of their 41 attempted shots, good for a 31 percent completion rate.
In the opening period of the second half of play, the Lions scored 12 more points. Nielsen again led the way, scoring six more points, with Wallace adding two more as well on a layup. Both Ellie Brueggemann and Celina Arnlund scored their first points of the game in the third period as well, with two each.
In the final quarter of the game, the Lions scored a game-high 16 points. McGrath led the way with eight, two of which came on successful three-point attempts. Nielsen completed her 18-point game with four additional points in the period, and Skoff added two points on a layup. Kaylen Evans had two points on consecutive free throws, which were the final scores of the game for the Lions.
In the second half of play, the Lions improved their shot succession rate to 41 percent, making 18 of the 43 shots attempted. On the defensive side of the ball, Brueggemann and Nielsen each led the team in rebounds with four.
In the men’s game, the Lions came out of the gate strong, taking the lead 16-3 after six minutes of play in the first half. Jaylon McDaniel had four of those points, with Tommie Williams and Jeremiah Talton each scoring three, Keenon Cole and Isaac Ondekane with two, and Darius Beane with one. However, in the remaining 14 minutes of the first half, Lindenwood only scored seven more points and allowed the Golden Eagles to tie the game, ending the half at 23 a piece. McDaniel added three more points, with Beane and Cole each scoring two, with Beane’s coming on successful free throws.
In the first half, the Lions successfully made 15 of their 41 shots, good for a 36 percent completion rate.
Both Tennessee Tech and Lindenwood continued to match each other in the second half, as both teams scored 25 points. Cole added eight points, which gave him the team lead in the game with 17. Beane was closely behind in the half with six points, and Williams had four more points. Ondekane added five points, three of which on free throw attempts, and McDaniels made two free throws, good for two points. With the game tied at the end of regulation, both teams headed into overtime.
Overall, in the second half, the Lions made 40 percent of their shots, making 17 of the 42 they attempted.
In the five-minute overtime period, the Golden Eagles were able to put up 14 points, as opposed to the Lions’ four, each of which were scored by Cole. The team was only able to make 3 of their 14 attempted shots in the extra period.
On the defensive side of the ball, Cole led the team in rebounds with 10, with Williams following behind with seven.
Both teams now head out on a two-game road trip, as they play SIUE on Feb. 15, and Eastern Illinois University on Feb. 17. The two teams return to the Hyland Arena for the final time this season on Thursday, Feb. 22 to play UT Martin, with the women’s game set to begin at 5 p.m., and the men’s at 7:30 that evening.
