ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood men's basketball team (1-2, 0-0 OVC) picked up their first win of the season after defeating Hannibal-LaGrange (2-2, 0-0 AMC) 83-52 in Hyland Arena on Monday night. LU shot 58.1% from the field vs. the Trojans.

"I think first and foremost I am happy for our guys to get a win here," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman. "I think it is also good to get that first one. Being at home in front of a crowd is good, and I know the guys were excited about seeing a good crowd tonight."

Keenon Cole continued his terrific start to the 2023-34 season after dropping back-to-back 20 point performances. Cole remains the leading scorer for the Lions after averaging 18.0 points per game while scoring in double-digits in all three contests.

Darius Beane had his best performance as a Lion after scoring 20 points and picking up four assists and three steals. Not only was he tied for the scoring lead, but he did it efficiently hitting 10 of 14 shots all within the three-point arc.

"I was happy for Darius because he got into some four trouble in our first game and did not really get into a rhythm," said Gerdeman. "It was important for him to come out and really find his way offensively tonight."

Lindenwood's offense started off slow on Monday, only leading 16-14 at the 7:57 mark in the first half. LU struggled from three-point range missing their first five attempts and only hitting 3-16 from that range (18.8 3FG%). LU largest scoring run of the night was nine points.

Most of the Lions' damage came from in the paint with Lindenwood picking up 50 of their points from that area. They held Hannibal-LaGrange to just 14 points in the paint. Beane did most of his work with pull-up jumpers in the middle of the key while David Ware picked up all eight of his points down in the trenches.

Over the first couple games of the season, Lindenwood was only averaging 4.5 assists per game. That changed on Monday when Lindenwood picked up 18 assists including five from Tommie Williams off the bench. Nine Lions had at least one assist tonight.

Lindenwood also used their defense to create offense scoring 30 points off turnovers. LU had three players have three steals in the game including Williams, Beane and Nathan Johnson Jr. Hannibal-LaGrange had 22 turnovers on the evening. 

Amoro Lado came off the bench and had a solid eight minutes of action picking up 11 points and hitting two threes. Ware, along with his eight points, picked up a team high 10 rebounds. It was the fifth time in his career posting double-digit rebounds.

The Lions will be back in action on Thursday, Nov. 16 as they head to the Air Force Classic in Colorado for three games. LU will take on Air Force on Thursday, Omaha on Friday and William & Mary on Saturday. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.