The Lindenwood men's basketball team saw its 2016-17 campaign come to an end on Monday night at Hyland Arena. The Lions fell in the first round of the MIAA Tournament with a 72-61 loss to Lincoln.
 
Lindenwood came out on fire to start the game, going on a 7-0 run in the first three minutes. Lincoln tied the game at 12, but Lindenwood got hot from three-point range to go back up 24-18. Later in the half, the Lions got in foul trouble, and Lincoln took advantage, eventually going into halftime with a 34-32 lead. Seven different players for Lindenwood scored at least three points, led by 10 from LJ McIntosh.
 
The start of the second half belonged to the Blue Tigers, as a 7-0 run help the visitors go up by a 43-34 margin with 15:51 left in the game. The Lions got back within four at 49-45, but that was as close as they would get. Lincoln was cold for most of the game from long distance, but connected on four three-pointers after that point. Those three-pointers helped the Blue Tigers go on an 18-2 run, and they led 67-47 with 3:19 remaining. Lindenwood got the crowd back into it with a quick 11-0 spurt, but it ran out of time.
 
Lindenwood finished the game shooting 45.1 percent from the field, slightly better than Lincoln, and it also made two more three-pointers in the same amount of attempts. Lincoln took 16 more free throws though, and its 11 extra made free throws were the difference. The Blue Tigers also had five fewer turnovers and four more rebounds in the game.
 
Chandler Diekvoss led the Lions with 14 points on six-of-11 shooting. McIntosh finished his Lions career with 12 points. Jackson Price also had double-figure points with 10, and Max Meylor led the bench scoring with eight points. In the rebounding category, Bakari Triggs led the team with eight, one more than Diekvoss. Adam Pohlman and Dominique Dobbs each had team-highs of two assists.
 
Lindenwood ends its season with a 21-12 overall record, its eighth season in program history with over 20 victories.