ST. CHARLES, MO- There are fast games, and then there are games that feel like track meets disguised as basketball.
Saturday afternoon’s Ohio Valley Conference showdown at Hyland Arena was the latter, as Tennessee State outlasted Lindenwood 96-86 in a relentless, up-and-down battle between the league’s top two scoring offenses.
The Tigers (13-7, 7-3 OVC) handed the Lions (12-9, 6-4) just their second home loss of the season, leaning on elite shot-making and offensive efficiency to pull away in the second half.
“It was back and forth for both teams,” Lindenwood head coach Kyle Gerdeman said. “The pace was good, which I think we were fine with. We traded baskets for quite a while. I just thought in the second half we needed to settle in defensively, and it didn’t happen tonight.”
It was a battle of “big threes” on Saturday afternoon in Hyland Arena and unfortunately for the Lions it was the Tigers big three that showed up and won out.
The trio of Travis Harper II, Aaron Nkrumah and Dante Harris combined for 72 of the Tigers 96 points and all three combined for all seven makes from three point range for Tennessee State.
The Tigers held Lindenwood’s trio of Anias Futrell, Jadis Jones and Dontrez Williams to just 53 combined points.
The game lived up to its billing early. Both teams ranked first and second in the OVC in scoring and field-goal percentage, and neither side blinked through the opening 20 minutes. After Tennessee State jumped out to a 7-0 lead, Lindenwood responded quickly and grabbed its first advantage at 18-16 on a floater by Jadis Jones.
A 9-0 Tigers run midway through the first half briefly shifted momentum, but Futrell and Clayton Jackson helped the Lions stay within striking distance. Tennessee State closed the half on a 9-4 run to take a 43-39 lead into the break.
The difference came after halftime.
Tennessee State opened the second half with an 11-5 burst and never trailed again, stretching the lead to double figures behind its standout trio of Harper II, Nkrumah and Harris.
“We knew they had talented guys,” Gerdeman said. “We let all three of them play really well. Even when we tried to make it tough on them, they still scored on us.”
Nkrumah sparked the decisive stretch, scoring five straight points after Jones cut the deficit to six, then drilling another 3-pointer to push the lead to 12 with just over nine minutes remaining. Lindenwood answered behind 3-pointers from Futrell and Milos Nenadic to trim the margin to 77-71, but the Tigers responded once more with an 11-3 run to seize control and cruise to the 96-86 win.
“They got patient when they needed to and made shots at the end of possessions,” Gerdeman said. “We just couldn’t get consecutive stops. I’m not sure we got three stops in a row all night.”
Futrell led Lindenwood with 25 points, continuing a strong week that earned him OVC Player of the Week honors. Jones added 21 points and four steals, but the Lions were hampered by foul trouble throughout. Dontrez Williams played just 23 minutes after picking up early fouls, and Jones fouled out late.
“When good players get in foul trouble, they tend to get a little passive,” Gerdeman said. “You still have to go play. Don Trez only getting eight minutes in the first half is probably a bigger deal than the fouls late.”
Tennessee State finished with a commanding edge in the paint (56-34) and shot 60 percent from the field. Lindenwood stayed competitive by going 20 of 22 from the free-throw line, a point Gerdeman viewed as a positive.
“If you’re going to play fast and aggressive at the rim, you’ve got to be able to make free throws,” he said. “Otherwise you’re wasting possessions.”
The loss tightened an already crowded OVC race. Tennessee State moved slightly ahead of the pack, sitting tied for second, while Lindenwood joined a cluster of three teams sitting at 6-4.
“I have no idea who the best team is,” Gerdeman said. “It’s a bunch of teams battling and still getting better. The last 10 games are going to be really competitive.”
These two teams met three times last season, each team winning one before the Tigers got the better of the Lions and sent them packing in the quarterfinal round of the OVC tournament. These teams will meet once more in the regular season, and hopefully eye another showdown in the Ford Center come March.
The Lions head out for a road doubleheader first with Southern Indiana on Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. before they play the Morehead State Eagles on Jan. 31 at 2:30 p.m., with both games streaming exclusively on ESPN+.
