The Lindenwood men's basketball team earned its fourth MIAA victory, dominating No. 25 Northwest Missouri by a final score of 68-52 on Sunday afternoon. Having won four out of their last five games, the Lions' allowed 52 points which was the lowest of the season. In addition, that was the fewest points scored by the Bearcats since November 26, 2013.
The Lions started the first half strong behind a 6-2 lead at the 16:30 mark.
Zachary Biggs recorded a bucket, two rebounds, and an assist during that span.
Chandler Diekvoss added a three-pointer at the 15:53 mark to extend the Lions lead by five. The Bearcats clawed back on an 8-0 run by the 11:14 mark to give them a three-point lead. Both teams remained scoreless through the next 1:44 until the Bearcats scored off a layup.
Nick Van Osdale ended the scoreless streak after laying in an easy bucket to cut the lead to 16-11, but the Bearcats responded with a quick bucket at the 7:11 mark.
Both teams traded two-point shots again behind Stanilas Heili's lay-in at the 6:05 mark. Diekvoss then added two free throws less than 30 seconds later, totaling to seven points. Heading out of the media timeout, Heili blocked a shot that led into a fast break bucket by
LJ McIntosh to even the score 20-20 with just four minutes remaining in the half. They tacked on another bucket from
Cory Arentsen off an assist from Diekvoss to take a two-point lead. McIntosh added more to the scoring frenzy with a three-pointer at the 1:57 mark followed by a three-pointer from Van Osdale with 57 seconds remaining. Arentsen made one free throw to extend the Lions' lead by five with 21 seconds left.
The Lions pressured the Bearcats back-court by double-teaming the ball carrier and forcing a lob pass up for grabs. After the pass being intercepted by Heili, Arentsen started the fast break and took the ball down the hole for a lay-up to give the Lions a 31-24 lead heading into halftime. Diekvoss led the team with seven points and three assists followed by Heili and McIntosh with six points each in the first half. Heili also snatched five rebounds and swatted an impressive four shots on the defensive side of the floor.
Arentsen began the second half drawing a shooting foul beyond the arc and converting all three free throws to give the Lions a 10-point lead. Arentsen continued his hot scoring streak by swishing a two-point shot and a spot-up three-pointer with 13:04 remaining and a 45-35 Lions' lead. Coming out of a timeout,
Sam Mader found Heili in the paint to extend the lead by 12 at the 12:08 mark.
The Lions forced a timeout after
Sam Mader made a three-pointer off a pass from Arentsen, giving the Lions the biggest lead of the game with 13. The Lions continued to dominate on the offensive side of the ball, extending the lead to 63-46 at the 3:45 mark behind two more three-pointers from Arentsen. As play progressed, the Lions held the fort on defense by only allowing six points in the final four minutes. Arentsen sealed the deal with a shot-clock beating three-pointer to give the Lions the upset victory.
Arentsen finished with 23 points on seven of 12 shooting and three of five from three-point. He also recorded six rebounds and two assists. Heili's monster double-double, his third of the season, included shooting a perfect six for six from the field, scoring 12 points, collecting 10 rebounds, and blocking a season-high seven shots. Diekvoss posted nine points and five assists.
The Lions completed 64.1 percent of their shots for the game, including 72.2 percent in the second half where they outscored the Bearcats 37-28. From beyond the arc, the Lions nearly could not be stopped, converting eight of 11 three-pointers to the Bearcats' four for 19. The Lions out-rebounded the Bearcats 31-27, but the Bearcats collected 14 on the offensive glass.
The team set a school record with 11 blocks against Northwest Missouri, with the previous record of 10 which held since 2006 against Benedictine. With seven blocks of his own, Heili set a new individual record for the Lions' basketball team. The previous record was six, which was set in 1996 and 2012.
The Lions conclude the 2015 portion of the season with an 8-3 record and 4-1 in the MIAA. They will resume play on Saturday, January 2 as they travel to Topeka, Kan. for an MIAA match-up against Washburn. Tip-off is scheduled at 7 pm.
