The Lindenwood Lions men’s basketball (7-9, 2-3 OVC) achieved their first ever win in program history over the Tennessee State Tigers (5-11, 1-4) by the score of 72-62 on Thursday night.
Anias Futrell led the way with a double-double, including tying his season-high in points with 24, and grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. Futrell also added three steals to his final stat line. Nathan Johnson Jr, in just his fourth start of the season, tallied 11 points and seven rebounds. Markeith Browning II continued his hot play, being the third Lion to score in double figures as he finished with 10 points, four assists, and a steal. He also went 4/6 from the foul line and Lindenwood as a team went 18/27. Browning also had six turnovers but the Lions only had 11 as a team compared to the 19 turnovers that they forced on Tennessee State leading to 19 points for the Lions. A surprise to see in the starting lineup on Thursday was true freshman Aly Tounkara, who made the most of his first career start as the seven-footer scored seven points, had seven rebounds including five offensive rebounds, and made an impact near the rim as he tallied four blocks. Lindenwood also won the battle in the paint 36-34 and on second chance opportunities 22-14. Tennessee State out-rebound the Lions 43-39 but both teams had 13 offensive rebounds.
It was a slow start for Lindenwood, as Tennessee State jumped out to a quick 10-5 lead within the first five minutes of the first half. Jaylon McDaniel and Futrell were able to get on the board for the Lions and keep the game from being a blowout early. The Lions would start the game shooting 1/10 and 0/3 from downtown and play from behind most of the half. The Tigers would extend their lead to 28-18 following an Aaron Nkrumah layup with 6:39 to play in the half. Both teams would trade buckets as Tennessee State wouldn’t let the lead fall below eight as for every bucket the Lions got, the Tigers had an answer. With the 34-24 with 2:16 left, Jalen Bouknight and Tounkara would carry the Lions to a 5-0 run to close out the half and only trail the Tigers 34-29 heading into the halftime break. Futrell scored 13 of his 24 points in the first half and even though the Lions only shot 30% as a team in the first half they held the Tigers to 2/12 from behind the arc and were able to keep the game within reach.
Lindenwood came out on fire in the second half going on a 12-0 run to start the half and entered the first media timeout with 15:46 left up 41-34. Browning, Futrell, Johnson Jr, and Jadis Jones all contributed to the run and a three-pointer from Futrell was the exclamation point. The Lions’ defense was also wreaking havoc to start the half forcing three turnovers early to contribute to the run. Tennessee State would come roaring back drawing within two at 42-40 at 14:00 after Brandon Weston converted a pair of free throws. Lindenwood, though, would go on a 13-4 run capped off by a Bouknight three-pointer with 9:47 putting the Lions back up 55-44. The Lions wouldn’t look back from this run as the Tigers tried to mount another run and closed the score to 59-55 but wouldn’t get any closer as the Lions would go 7/10 from the free throw over the final four minutes to close out the 72-62 win over Tennessee State. Futrell made three out of his last four free throws to ice the game for the Lions and helped them pick up their second OVC win of the season.
The Lions will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 11th as they host UT Martin starting at 3:30pm streaming on ESPN+.
