ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood men's basketball (6-8, 0-1 OVC) dropped their Ohio Valley Conference opener at home against Southern Indiana by a final score of 62-73. Southern Indiana outrebounded the Lions 43-25 including 12 offensive boards to just three by LU.

"I thought two teams competed really hard," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman. "This was a typical kind of OVC game, and I thought out guys were prepared. I give Southern Indiana credit, they made play downs the stretch to win the game."

Keenon Cole was the leading scorer for Lindenwood after dropping 17 points on 6-18 shooting. He extend his streak of scoring in double-digits to 14 games. Jeremiah Talton and Darius Beane both added 10 points for Lindenwood in the loss. LU shot 18-50 (36.0%) from the floor on Sunday while USI shot 23-51 (45.1%).

Southern Indiana held a 10 point advantage through the first eight minutes of play at Hyland Arena. Forward Nick Hittle for the Screaming Eagles had six early points down low and helped USI to a 15-8 advantage.

Cole scored five points in a crucial period in the first half to give Lindenwood their first lead of the afternoon at 17-16. Lindenwood started the ball game shooting 3-6 from downtown including one from Nathan Johnson Jr. and Talton who went 3-3 from three point land.

AJ Smith for USI was fouled on a three-point shot by Colin Ruffin to give the Eagles the lead back at 28-25. Smith led all scorers on Sunday with 27 points on 9-16 shooting including hitting four threes.

At the half, Lindenwood trailed 30-31. Cole had a team high eight points while Talton added seven. The Lions were held to 8-25 shooting in the first 25 minutes but went 5-11 from three.

Both teams went back and forth to start the second half before Lindenwood jumped out to their biggest lead of the night. Cole and Beane scored back-to-back tough baskets to give the Lions a four point advantage with just over 13 minutes to play.

Lindenwood kept within striking distance for most of the second half with it being a one possession game for the first 15 minutes. USI started to stretch their lead out after Jeremiah Hernandex scored six straight points to give USI a 66-60 advantage. LU would only score two points the final three minutes of the game.

Isaac Ondekane put up a solid stat line during his first start of the season. The big man had eight points and nine rebounds while picking up a steal. Tommie Williams also added six points and two steals.

The Lions will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 6 as they take on OVC newcomer Western Illinois in Macomb, Ill. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.