The Lindenwood men's basketball team (3-1, 3-1 GLVC) lost its first game of the season by a final of 76-63 to No. 18 Truman State (4-0, 4-0 GLVC) on Saturday afternoon inside Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
 
GAME OVERVIEW
The Lions and Bulldogs struggled to compile points early in the game, but Lindenwood was able to gain a 10-5 advantage at the 15:01 mark of the first half.  Anthony Christian put the Lions ahead by a slim 29-28 margin with less than seven minutes to go, but Truman State locked down on the defensive end to take a seven-point lead into the half.  To start the second 20-minutes of play, the Bulldogs took control of the game and held tight.  Truman State maintained a double-digit lead for the entirety of the second half, and closed out the game with a 76-63 win.
 
The Bulldogs came into the game hot from behind the arc and it showed, as they were 8-of-19 from long range.  Truman State was 52.8 percent from the field, and outrebounded the Lions 44-33.  Lindenwood had an off night shooting the ball, as the Lions were 4-of-28 from three-point range, and just 34.7 percent from the field.  TJ Crockett compiled 19 points and six rebounds, but also generated extra possessions with four steals.  Christian played quality basketball, as he registered 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field in just 16 minutes of time of the court.
 
QUOTABLE
"Give a lot of credit to Truman State, they played well on both ends of the floor and really showed why they are a top-25 team," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman.  "I thought we did a lot of good things in the first half, our focus and effort was in the right place.  They (Truman State) made a little run late in the half and that seemed to be the difference.  I thought the second half we saw some adversity for the first time this season, and we will grow from that and get better.  Then we need to make some shots, our percentages have not been where we would like all year.  We'll keep working at it and hopefully start getting shots to drop."
 
GAME LEADERS
TJ Crockett (19 PTS, 6 REB, 4 STL)
Anthony Christian (10 PTS, 3 REB, 1 BLK, 1 AST)
Romelo Burrell (8 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST)
 
UP NEXT
The Lions will close out the 2020 portion of their season on Sunday, December 20 when they host Drury at 2:00 p.m. in Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.