ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood men's basketball (3-5, 0-0 OVC) picked up their third win of the season after a 102-45 victory over East-West University (0-6) on Wednesday evening inside Hyland Arena. The Lions had five double-digit scorers in the win while making a season-high 12 threes. It is their most made threes in a single game since February 25, 2023 vs. Little Rock.

"I think it is good to get a win after a really tough stretch of our schedule," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman. "You need those games like tonight that if you play the right way you should feel really good about yourself individually and as a team and leave with a lot of confidence and we did that."

Lindenwood was led by Anias Futrell who scored 15 points in the win while shooting 6-10 from the field. Three of his made field-goals came from behind the three-point line. He also chipped in five rebounds and a season-high four assists. Futrell also led the team in steals with five.

Freshman Clayton Jackson scored 14 points in his first career start. Jackson shot 5-9 from the floor, making two threes. Jalen Boucknight (13 points) and Colin Ruffin (12 points) also scored in double-figures off the bench. Grad student Markeith Browning II had eight points while dishing out a team-high nine assists. As a team, Lindenwood dished out 20 assists marking the second time this season LU has had over 20 assists.

Jaylon McDaniel scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds while shooting 4-7 from the field. Nine different Lions had at least three rebounds in the game as Lindenwood out-rebounded the Phantoms 46-36. East-West did have 15 offensive rebounds compared to 12 by the Lions.

Lindenwood created 22 turnovers against the Phantoms and scored 22 points off of those. The Lions' were active on defense collecting 12 steals and a season-high 10 blocks. It was the first time in Lindenwood's Division I era that they had double-digit blocks and the first time since the 2020-21 season against Missouri S&T. Jordan Wildy had three of LU's 10 blocks.

The Lions dominated in the paint scoring 48 of their 102 points inside the painted area. Lindenwood also scored 18 points off of second chance opportunities and had 29 fast break points. LU also had a productive day from their bench with 48 bench points including nine from Nathan Johnson Jr.

Lindenwood went into the locker room at the half leading 47-14, marking the second time LU has held a team under 15 points in a half (UHSP on Nov. 7). The offense had a strong first half shooting 18-35 from the field (51.4%) while hitting seven three pointers.

The Lions started the half on a 17-2 run including a 12-0 start. Lindenwood's biggest scoring run in the half was 15 points as they led for over 19 minutes. East-West was held to just six made field-goals while shooting 17.6% from the floor. Futrell had 13 points at the half while Browning added eight.

East-West ramped up their offense in the second half scoring 31 points, but the Lions poured on 51 points to seal the win. Lindenwood's offense shot 18-29 in the second half (62.1%) while going 14-18 from the foul line. The Phantoms shot 13-35 in the final 20 minutes, but were held to 1-12 from three.

Jackson scored 12 of his points in the second half while Boucknight added 11 of his 13 total points. Eleven different Lions scored in Wednesday's victory. The Lions are now a perfect 2-0 at home this season.

Lindenwood returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 7th when they take on #23 Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. CT. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.