ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood Men's Basketball fell in an exhibition matchup to Southern Illinois on Wednesday evening by a final score of 86-76. Milos Nenadic led all scorers with 21 points on 10-14 shooting, and the Lions had four different players score in double digits in the contest.

The Lions started off the game with two three pointers coming off the hands of Mekhi Cooper and Jeremiah Talton to give Lindenwood the early 6-0 lead 1:48 into the contest. The six points was all that could separate the two teams in the first half as Lindenwood went up 19-13 with 12:51 to go in the half after Milos Nenadic scored a layup to extend the lead back up to six. The Salukis would cause some havoc for the Lions, forcing four turnovers in a span of three minutes to make it a one point game at 21-20 with nine minutes to play. The two teams would go back-and-forth for the remainder of the first half making it a 39-39 game at the break. Jeremiah Talton and Milos Nenadic both had 10 points in the first 20 minutes of play as Talton knocked down two three pointers to lead the Lions and Nenadic shot 5-7 from the field. 

In the second half, Southern Illinois started on a 6-2 run to give them a four point lead at 45-41. After the Salukis extended their lead to 10 with 13:22 remaining, Lindenwood responded with a 5-0 run highlighted by a Jaylon McDaniel bucket and a Mekhi Cooper three ball to cut the SIU lead to five at the under 12 media timeout. Out of the timeout, Jeremiah Talton forced a turnover and knocked down his third three of the night 14 seconds later to make it a one possession game. That would be as close as Lindenwood got to tying it in the second half as the Salukis responded with a 6-1 run to take a 62-55 lead with 8:55 to go in the game. Later in the half, Clayton Jackson scored on a jumper from the elbow to make it a 76-72 lead for SIU, but the Saulkis would end the game on a 10-4 run to take the exhibition matchup from the Lions. 

Jackson finished the game with 13 points and a game-high eight assists, while Mekhi Cooper added 14 points and four assists on 5-9 shooting. Jeremiah Talton led the Lions from beyond the arc knocking down three out of eight attempts and finished the game with 16 points. Despite the loss, the offense was balanced as four Lions finished in double figures and as a team Lindenwood had 16 second chance points compared to SIU's 14. 

"I think we got everything out of it that we probably wanted to." said Head coach Kyle Gerdeman. "I thought our guys really battled and did a good job. I think we made progress from the last time out and I think we got better from where we were a week ago." 

The Lions will now start the regular season next Tuesday at #10 Texas Tech. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. CT in Lubbock, Texas.