LUBBOCK, Tx. - Lindenwood Men's Basketball fell in their season opener on Tuesday night at #10 Texas Tech by a final score of 98-60.
Robert Lewis and
Milos Nenadic each had double-doubles in the contest, while
Mekhi Cooper led the Lions with 15 points.
In the first half, both teams struggled to hit shots early on, going a combined 0-8 in the first 1:30 of the opening half. The Lions made their next three shots on layups coming from Lewis, Nenadic, and Cooper to take an 8-5 lead over the Red Raiders at the under 16 media timeout. Out of the timeout, Cooper knocked down a three to extend the lead to 12-7 with 15:11 left, but Texas Tech followed the three with a 14-2 run over the next four minutes to take the lead at 21-14. Texas Tech knocked down 12 threes in the first half, including eight following their run to take a 58-30 lead into the locker room. All 15 of
Mekhi Cooper's points came in the first half as the Junior Guard shot 5-9 from the field, including a pair of three pointers to lead Lindenwood in the first 20 minutes of play.
Jeremiah Talton led the Lions in the second half with nine points, followed by
Milos Nenadic who scored seven. Nenadic picked up his fifth foul of the game with 6:48 to go, ending the game with his second career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Robert Lewis also had a solid second half for the Lions, scoring six points on 3-5 shooting and grabbing six rebounds to pick up his fifth double-double of his career and first with the black and gold. Lewis finished the game scoring 10 points on 5-8 shooting, and tied his career high with 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, Talton knocked down two threes in the second half and made three of his four free throw attempts.
As a team, the Lions struggled from the field as they shot 31.1% from the floor and knocked down 23.8% of their three point attempts. The Red Raiders shot 37% from beyond the arc, knocking down 17 threes and shot 40.2% from the field.
Lindenwood will return home on Thursday for their home opener when they will host UHSP. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.
