GAME OVERVIEW
The Lindenwood men's basketball team (11-14, 4-9 MIAA) dropped an 88-81 decision to the Missouri Western Griffons on Saturday afternoon from Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo. Despite impressive scoring performances from the duo of Chandler Diekvoss (27 points) and Brad Newman (25 points), the Lions were unable to push past the visiting Griffons.

Lindenwood found itself trailing Missouri Western 28-24 with under five minutes to play in the first half, but managed to trim that deficit to just one point as Brad Newman connected on a three-pointer with 4:20 remaining in the opening half. The Griffons then closed out the half on a 10-2 run, and carried a 38-29 lead into halftime.

Missouri Western would see its second-half lead swell to as many as 13 points as it held a 69-56 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the game.

On its next possession down the court, trailing by 13 points, Lindenwood responded in a big way, as Diego Womack put home a layup that sparked the Lions on a 10-0 run over the next 1:53 of play. Over that time, Lindenwood scored eight of its points at the charity stripe, hitting each of its eight attempts.

However, the Griffons answered right back with a decisive 13-6 run of their own which pushed the lead back to double-digits. In the end, Missouri Western earned the 88-81 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Diekvoss led all scorers with 27 points (10-15 FG, 7-9 FT), 19 of which came during Lindenwood's second-half comeback attempt.
- Diekvoss collected a game-high eight rebounds to lead the Lions.
- Newman added 25 points (6-11 FG, 9-10 FT), 17 of which also came in the final 20 minutes of play.
- Womack also reached double-digit scoring, finishing the game with 14 points (7-11 FG).
- Adam Pohlman narrowly missed out on a double-double, registering eight points and 10 assists. Pohlman also added five rebounds.
- For the game Lindenwood shot 50.9 percent (28-of-55). The Lions knocked down 20-of-24 from the free-throw line (83.3 percent).

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Lance Randall
"Missouri Western played exceptionally well offensively tonight, they had their best shooting night of the year," said Randall. "We had a solid offensive first half, but in the second half, we had zero turnovers, shot 20 free throws, and shot 53 percent from the floor. Those numbers should win you any basketball game, however, we really struggled to get stops. Our defense has to get better. Missouri Western went at us by attacking favorable one-on-one matchups, and got us on the glass in a couple of key possessions. We have to keep competing, but we also have to be better defensively."

UP NEXT
Lindenwood will begin its final regular season road trip of the season on Thursday evening from Hays, Kan. The Lions will face Fort Hays State at 7:30 p.m.