The Lindenwood men's basketball team gave No. 13 Northwest Missouri a scare on Friday evening in Kansas City, Mo., but the top-seeded Bearcats were able to hold off the ninth-seeded Lions by a 62-57 score in the quarterfinal round of the MIAA Tournament.
 
Lindenwood's Cory Arentsen came out on fire, hitting eight of his first nine shots and scoring 19 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. That gave the Lions a 21-14 lead at the halfway point of the period, but they would hit one more field goal the rest of the half. Northwest Missouri went on a 12-0 run to take the lead, and it lead 30-25 at halftime.
 
The Bearcats had another big run early in the second half, scoring 11 straight points to go up 44-30. Lindenwood found its offense after that, having a 17-5 spurt to get the lead down to two with 6:40 left in the game.
 
The two teams traded baskets for much of the remainder of the game. Arentsen got Lindenwood within one with 45 seconds left, but Northwest Missouri quickly answered on the other end with a layup that made the score 60-57. The Bearcats defense then forced a turnover, which led to two free throws with 22 seconds left that proved to be the final points of the game.
 
Lindenwood shot 52.4 percent from the field, and it held the Bearcats to just 43.4 percent shooting. Northwest Missouri took 11 more field goal attempts and seven more free throws to overcome the shooting numbers. The Bearcats turned the ball over just three times, compared to nine for the Lions. Northwest Missouri also had a 31-21 rebounding advantage, including 13 offensive boards which led to 21 second-chance points.
 
Arentsen finished the game with 34 points, and he also led the team with six rebounds. He was 13-of-23 from the field, including four-of-11 from three-point range. Brad Newman had a team-high three assists and scored eight points. LJ McIntosh hit all three shots he attempted and he finished with seven points. Sam Mader and Stanislas Heili both blocked three shots.
 
Lindenwood falls to 16-14 on the season. It advanced to the MIAA Quarterfinals for the second straight season, and won its first MIAA Tournament game in the first round of the tournament.