Box Score The Lindenwood Lions gave the top team in the MIAA everything it could handle on Thursday night. The Lions had a shot at the buzzer that would have given them an upset win but it just missed. The Lions fell to the Northwest Missouri Bearcats 63-61 at the Hyland Arena.

It was a back-and-forth game from the opening tip with 12 lead changes and the score tied on five separate occasions. Lindenwood took the first big lead of the game at the 3:18 mark when the Lions were up by eight.

The lead diminished quickly though as Northwest Missouri closed the half on a 9-2 run to send the game into the break with the Lions leading by one.  The bench was the story in the first half scoring 11 of the team's 28 points.

The second half started with Lindenwood scoring the first basket but the Bearcats scored the next seven-of-nine points to take the lead. Over the next nine minutes, the two teams traded the lead seven times.

But at the 7:22 mark the Bearcats went on a 6-0 run to take the lead by six. Lindenwood cut the lead down to three but then Northwest Missouri pushed it back up to six with just over two minutes to play.

Even when the Lions looked to be out of it, the home team did not go down easily. Tyler Ressel started the comeback with a three at the 1:44 mark to cut the deficit to three. On the ensuing possession, the Bearcats turned the ball over but as Darris Smith was heading in for a layup, Ressel was called for an off the ball foul and gave the ball back to Northwest Missouri.

The Bearcats would miss on their next possession and the Lions called a timeout. During the timeout Lindenwood drew up a play to set up Michael Boos for a game tying three which worked to perfection, but the shot was just too strong. Fortunately, for the Lions Marcus Hinton grabbed the rebound and laid it in to get the team within one.

Lindenwood was forced to foul in the inbounds play which sent Northwest Missouri to the free throw line. DeShaun Copper would make one-of-two and the Bearcats led by two with 25 seconds left.

Northwest Missouri forced the Lions into turnover with 14 seconds left which looked like it was going to seal the home team's fate. Cooper would make both his free throws to push the lead to four.

Smith rushed down the court and scored quickly to cut the deficit back to two points. This time Bryston Williams would knock in two from the charity strip and once again the lead was at four. Again, Smith rushed down the court and this time hit a three with five second to go.

Grant Cozad was then fouled and went to the free throw line and would make one of two to give the Lions a chance. After the second free throw was missed Garrett Reeg grabbed the rebound ran down the court and took a three at the buzzer that just caromed off the rim.

The Lions had one of their best shooting nights of the season going 24-for-48 from the field. Hinton led the way for Lindenwood scoring a career-high 17 points. Smith was the only other double digit scorer with 13 and Reeg led the team in rebounds with nine.

With the loss the Lions drop to 8-13 overall on the season and 3-8 in MIAA play. The team will not have much time to rest as it heads to Missouri Western on Saturday afternoon.