The Lindenwood men's basketball team (7-15, 2-7 OVC) dropped its midweek matchup with UT Martin (14-8, 6-3 OVC) by a final of 66-59 on Thursday night in Martin, Tenn.

GAME OVERVIEW
UT Martin opened the game with an 11-0 lead, but Tommie Williams provided a huge spark off the bench.  After being down 15-3, the Lions began to hit their shots and a three-pointer by Jacob Tracey made it a 15-12 ballgame at the 6:45 mark.

Lindenwood tied the game at 21-21 on a floater by Williams with three minutes to go in the half.  Williams gave the Lions a lead after draining a shot from downtown on the next offensive possession.  Williams ended the first 20 minutes with three more points, as the Lions held a slim 27-26 lead at the break.  The Lions were able to generate eight points off of 10 turnovers by the Skyhawks.

The two teams battled back-and-forth through the first five minutes, as a three pointer by Chris Childs made it a 38-37 lead for the Lions.  Keenon Cole knocked down the next two buckets, including a bucket from behind the arc for a five-point advantage.  Williams drove hard to the hoop to give Lindenwood a 48-41 lead with 12 minutes to go in the game.

UT Martin chipped away, and regained its lead at the five-minutes mark of the second half.  The Skyhawks added to their lead as the Lindenwood offense struggled to fight off the momentum.  The Lions were able to pull within seven points with one minute to go, but it was too little too late in the road loss.

Cole led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc.  Williams ended his night with 11 points and two blocks in his 25 minutes of action.  Both teams were even on points off turnovers (14) and points in the paint (30), but the Skyhawks outscored the Lions 15-3 on the fast break.

GAME LEADERS
Keenon Cole (19 PTS, 8 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 8-of-13 FG)
Tommie Williams (11 PTS, 4 REB, 2 BLK, 1 AST)
Cam Burrell (8 PTS, 8 REB, 4 STL, 1 BLK, 1 AST)

UP NEXT
Lindenwood will remain on the road as the Lions head to Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday to take on Tennessee State at 2:00 p.m.