The Lindenwood men's basketball team had its five-game winning streak snapped by the Southwest Baptist Bearcats on Thursday evening from Bolivar, Mo. The Lions were defeated by a 84-80 final score, moving their record to 8-4 on the season and 2-2 from within the GLVC.

GAME OVERVIEW
Southwest Baptist opened up a 5-0 lead just 1:22 into the game. Lindenwood quickly responded, hitting four of its next five shots to pull even with the home team at 10-10.

The Bearcats moved ahead of the Lions again, this time taking a seven-point lead at 20-13 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half. Lindenwood answered yet again, this time with a 13-5 run over the next 5:27 of play, turning a seven-point deficit into a one-point lead at 26-25.

As the half moved into its final minute of action, Lindenwood trailed Southwest Baptist by one point, 34-33. Suhkman Bhinder knocked down a three-pointer with 45 seconds showing on the clock to send the Lions ahead by two points. However, just 30 seconds after the Bhinder three-pointer, the Bearcats drained a three of their own, to establish a 37-36 lead heading into the break.

After shooting just 38.9 percent from the field as a team in the first half, Lindenwood managed to shoot 45.2 percent during the second half. Despite the improved shooting performance from the Lions, Southwest Baptist managed to protect its lead throughout the final 20 minutes of play.

The Lions kept the game close for the entirety of the final period, never trailing by more than 10 points. With just two seconds left in regulation and Lindenwood trailing 82-77, Luka Radosevic hit a three-pointer to bring the Lions within two points of the Bearcats. That was as close as Lindenwood get, as two successful Southwest Baptist free throws pushed the game to its final score of 84-80.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Cameron Scales posted a team-high 16-point effort (6-of-12 FG, 4-of-9 3PFG) for the Lions.
- For Scales, the 16-point effort marked the fourth time this season that he scored at least 16 points in a game.
- Three other Lions scored in double figures, led by Vijay Blackmon who totaled 15 points. Radosevic (14 points) and TJ Crockett (13 points) were the other Lindenwood players to eclipse the 10-point mark.
- Radosevic matched a season-high with his eight rebounds.
-As a team, Lindenwood shot 41.8 percent from the field (28-of-67), including 14 makes from behind the arc.

Quotable
Head Coach Kyle Gerdeman
"It was a tough loss tonight, but there were a lot of positives in the way we played for 40 minutes, primarily in the second half," said Gerdeman. "I didn't think it was our best offensive game, we can learn some things for sure. But we should give credit to SBU, they played very well. We'll move onto Drury in a short turnaround, in what we expect to be another high-level GLVC game."
 
UP NEXT
Lindenwood will continue its road trip on Saturday afternoon in Springfield, Mo. during a 3:00 p.m. matchup with the Drury Panthers.