The Lindenwood men's basketball team cooled off the hottest team in the MIAA on Saturday afternoon at Hyland Arena. The Lions won their third straight game with a 70-63 victory over Nebraska-Kearney.

The Lions never trailed in the first half after having another quick start. Cory Arentsen nailed a three-pointer on Lindenwood's first possession and it eventually led by as many as at eight points at 15-7 midway through the half. The Lopers came back and got within one point three times, but Lindenwood closed out the half on an 8-2 run to lead 31-24.

Nebraska-Kearney came out of the locker room with some hot shooting. The Lopers tied the game at 44 with under 10 minutes remaining in the game, and took a three-point lead at 47-44. Lindenwood's Stanislas Heili turned momentum with a monstrous dunk along the baseline, which turned into a three-point play after he was also fouled. That sparked a 7-0 run which gave the Lions a 54-50 lead with under seven minutes left. 

The Lopers got within one possession five times after that, but Lindenwood kept getting big baskets to go back ahead. The biggest was a three-pointer by Arentsen with 44 seconds remaining to put Lindenwood up 66-60, and the Lions sealed the game by hitting all four free throws they attempted in the final 20 seconds. 

Nebraska-Kearney ended Lindenwood's streak of holding opponents below 40 percent shooting by shooting 43.9 percent from the field. The Lions still held the Lopers to nearly 14 points below their season average. Lindenwood also had a big advantage from the free-throw line where it went 12-of-12, and the Lopers had just four made free throws. 

Arentsen and Heili led the offense by scoring 39 of the team's 70 points. Artensen had team-highs with 20 points and three assists, and also grabbed seven rebounds. Heili was nine-of-10 from the field and scored 19 points, and he had a team-high nine rebounds and five blocks. Other top scorers were Brad Newman with 11, Chandler Diekvoss with eight, and Sam Mader with seven. Zachary Biggs had seven rebounds which helped Lindenwood win the rebounding battle by nine boards. 

Lindenwood stays in first place in the MIAA with a 7-2 conference record, and it is 11-4 overall. The Lions hit the road next week for a Wednesday road game at Central Missouri and a Saturday contest at Southwest Baptist.