ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood men's basketball (6-7, 1-1 OVC) earned their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season over Western Illinois (7-6, 1-1 OVC) by a final score of 71-65. The Lions even up their OVC record on the season and head into 2025 with six wins.

Markeith Browning II for the second consecutive game led the Lions in points after scoring 18 against the Leathernecks. The graduate student shot 5-18 from the floor while going 6-9 at the foul line. He also was able to grab five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Rebounding was key for Lindenwood on Saturday as LU out-rebounded Western Illinois 37-28 including 11-8 on the offensive glass. The Lions scored 14 points on second chance opportunities compared to just six by WIU. Of the 11 offensive boards, Jadis Jones had six of them.

The freshman forward tied his season-high in points against the Leathernecks with 17. Jones shot 8-13 from the field while leading the team with eight rebounds. He also managed to dish out two assists. Reggie Bass was the third Lion in double-digits scoring 10 points and adding a team-high four assists. Lindenwood assisted on 12 of their 27 made field-goals.

Bench points went in favor of the Lions as they scored 19 points from the reserves. Nathan Johnson Jr. scored nine points in the win including a big-time three pointers to put the Lions ahead by four-points late in the game. Johnson also had a team-high four steals. Jordan Wildy also contributed six points, five rebounds and three assists for LU in a reserve role.

Forty-four of Lindenwood's 71 points came in the paint compared to just 32 by the Leathernecks. LU also scored 11 points on fast break opportunities. Western Illinois did have six blocks against Lindenwood while the Lions had none.

Through the first five minutes of action, the Lions found themselves trailing by just one point at 13-12 with 14:35 remaining in the first half. The Lions started the game off shooting 5-8 from the floor, but WIU made three of their first four three-point attempts.

Lindenwood held a slight advantage by three with 6:36 left in the half, but were able to end the quarter on a 10-2 run as they entered the locker room leading 36-25. The Lions shot 16-31 from the floor in the first half while holding WIU to 9-27. Jones had 10 points and five rebounds going into the break.

Western Illinois cut the deficit to under 10 points with 13:25 left in the game as the Lions led by nine (50-41). LU started the quarter shooting 5-9 from the floor bu the Leathernecks were 6-12 and were out-scoring the Lions 16-14 to that point in the second half.

With 7:10 remaining, Trey Deveaux scored to cut the lead to 62-56. Western Illinois was shooting 12-20 (60.0%) from the floor up until that point, but the Lions were getting to the line and had made 7-8 foul shots in the second half with under eight to play.

The Leathernecks got it as close as one points (66-65) before the Lions were able to pull away late to clinch their first OVC win of the season. Johnson scored five of his nine points in the final minute the game to help LU secure the victory. 

Lindenwood will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 2nd at Eastern Illinois. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.