CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Lindenwood men's basketball (7-9, 1-2 OVC) earned their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season on Thursday at Southeast Missouri (6-11, 1-3 OVC) by a final score of 74-68. Keenon Cole posted a career-high 42 points while grabbing 11 rebounds to push the Lions past the Redhawks at the Show Me Center.

"It was a fun night," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman. "I was really proud of our guys especially after losing the first two conference games, it was not ideal for us. I thought we had a great week of practice and they guys really hung in there this week to get themselves ready for tonight."

Cole's 42 points are the most scored by a Lindenwood men's basketball player since TJ Crockett during the 2020-21 season. He becomes the first OVC player to score 40 points since Tennessee State's Jr Clay last season on February 28 and becomes the first OVC player since Austin Peay's Terry Taylor to score 42 points in a game.

Darius Beane also had 20 points for the Lions marking his fourth game this season where he has scored over 20 points. Beane and Cole combined for 62 points and 16 rebounds for the Lions in their win over SEMO.

The Redhawks started the evening off on a 6-2 run where the Lions started 1-6 from the field and 0-3 from deep. Both offenses struggled early as the game was tied 6-6 for nearly three minutes. SEMO went 0-7 in that stretch.

Midway through the first half, both teams were shooting the ball under 30.0% from the field. Cole started to turn on the gas towards the end of the first half giving the Lions a five-point lead with just over six minutes to play. It was part of a 7-0 run by the Lions to go up 18-13.

Defensive transition points would be a key factor in the win as Lindenwood created turnovers which led the multiple baskets. With 2:45 left in the first half, Cole stole the ball at the top of the key and raced down the floor for an easy dunk. LU had 17 points off turnovers compared to just 11 by SEMO.

The final minute of the second half saw SEMO's Braxton Stacker score five points in the matter of 30 seconds to cut the Lions' lead to one. Cole was then fouled which sent him to the line where he made both. Beane then stole the ball at half court and was fouled which gave him two free throws. LU went into halftime leading 34-29.

Lindenwood jumped out to a 7-0 run to start the second half including layups from Jaylon McDaniel, Cole and Beane. Josh Earley for the Redhawks finally ended the scoring drought with a and-one. Isaac Ondekane got into the action with an offensive rebound and put-back which put LU up 43-32.

Back-to-back steals by Colin Ruffin and Cole led the easy transition points for the Lions and helped them on a 6-0 and put them up 51-36. Lindenwood had 10 steals on the night, marking only the second time that has happened this season.

SEMO kept creeping back in late getting it under double digits with a Rob Martin jumper with under 6:00 minutes remaining. Both teams would trade baskets before SEMO cut it to seven with just over a minute of action.

Lindenwood's leading scorer Keenon Cole would ice the game late en route to his career-day. It also marked the second double-double of the season for Cole and the second time both Cole and Beane have scored over 20 points in the same game (vs. Hannibal-LaGrange).

As a team, Lindenwood shot 51.0% from the field and 30.8% from long range. The Lions also made 18-28 from the foul line. Lindenwood also did a lot of their work in the paint registering 32 points down on the blocks. Cole and Beane combined for 22 made field goals in the win.

The Lions will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 3:30 p.m. CT as they travel to Nashville, Tenn. to take on Tennessee State. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.