video - Lindenwood Play of the Night

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The No. 10 Lindenwood men's basketball team fell in overtime to Evangel by a 76-74 score on Thursday night at Hyland Arena in St. Charles. 

The game had two parts to it. For the first 27 minutes, Lindenwood's defense controlled the game, allowing just 33 points and holding Evangel to 32.5 percent shooting from the field. A 12-0 run by the Lions at the end of that stretch helped Lindenwood grab a 48-33 lead with under 13 minutes remaining in regulation.

From that point on though, Evangel's offense took over. In the final 18 minutes of the game, the Crusaders scored 43 points and shot 66.7 percent from the field. Evangel tied the game at 57 with 4:30 left in the second half and took its lone lead of the second half at 60-59. Lindenwood retook the lead with a 4-0 spurt, but two Lions' turnovers in the final 70 seconds helped the Crusaders come back and tie the game with four seconds remaining.

In overtime, the lead traded hands four times and there were three ties. The final tie came with 14 seconds remaining when Richard Rose nailed two free throws to tie the game at 74. Evangel came down and hit the game-winning layup with four seconds remaining. Lindenwood got a good look with a three-pointer at the buzzer, but it was off the mark.

Evangel won the game in the paint where it outrebounded Lindenwood 32-27 and had a 34-16 advantage in points in the game. Both teams shot under 45 percent from the field and made 18 free throws. The Lions had four more turnovers which led to Evangel having seven more points off turnovers.

The loss dampened a big night from Rose. Rose had a season-high 26 points and also recorded two rebounds, two assists, and three steals. He shot seven of ten from the field, three of four from three-point range, and nine of nine from the free throw line. Brett Thompson collected 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Alex Bazzell and Michael Boos also scored 11 apiece, and Kramer Soderberg had 10 points and four assists.

Lindenwood falls to 20-3 overall and 11-2 in conference play. The Lions travel to Benedictine on Saturday for an afternoon contest.