For the second straight MIAA game, the Lindenwood men's basketball team held the opposing team to 20 points below its season average. On Saturday at Hyland Arena, it was Northeastern State that struggled offensive against the Lions in a 75-63 Lindenwood victory.
Northeastern State was averaging 83.2 points a game before facing the Lions, but Lindenwood held the RiverHawks to just 33.8 percent shooting from the field, including 30.3 percent shooting in the second half. Northeastern State also turned the ball over 13 times and the Lions recorded seven steals and six blocked shots.
Offfensively,
Cory Arentsen had one of the top offensive games in school history. He became the seventh Lion in school history to score 40 or more points in a game, and the first to do it since Tyler Ressel in 2013. He finished with 40 exactly as he made 12-of-26 from the field, four-of-11 from three-point range, and 12-of-14 from the free-throw line.
Lindenwood's defense and Arentsen's offense played a key role in the biggest stretch of the game. The Lions led just 52-51 with eight minutes remaining, when the Lions went on a 10-1 run to put the game away. The defense held the RiverHawks without a field goal for 2:49, including forcing two missed shots and two turnovers. Arentsen scored all 10 points in that span for the Lions, including back-to-back three-pointers to spark the run.
Besides scoring a career high, Arentsen also had a career-high 13 rebounds, which helped Lindenwood win the rebounding battle by a 41-34 margin.
Chandler Diekvoss had seven points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
LJ McIntosh was second on the team in scoring with nine points, and
Stanislas Heili had eight points. McIntosh and Heili both had three steals, and
Logan Jaehnen had a team-high two blocks.
Lindenwood improves to 6-2 on the season and 2-0 in MIAA play. The Lions face Central Oklahoma next on Monday night at Hyland Arena.
