EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Lindenwood men's basketball (16-17, 10-10 OVC) ended their season at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships with a loss to #3 Tennessee State (17-15, 12-8 OVC) by a final score of 69-55. LU finished their third season in the OVC earning their most wins (16) and OVC wins (10) since reclassifying to Division I. The Lions also earned their first ever win in the OVC Tournament on Wednesday.

Anias Futrell led the Lions with 12 points on 4-8 shooting while adding five rebounds. An active defender on Thursday night, Futrell had a team-high four steals while adding two blocks. Lindenwood had seven blocks on Thursday including three from Aly Tounkara.

Jadis Jones was the other Lion to post double-figures scoring 10 points on 5-8 shooting while pulling down five rebounds. Jones ends his freshman season at Lindenwood leading the team in total points (413), rebounds (193) and minutes played (1105). He was the only Lion to start all 33 games during the 2024-25 season.

Reggie Bass added nine points and three assists while Markeith Browning II posted seven points while pulling down a season-high 10 rebounds. Lindenwood lost out on the rebounding battle 41-35 but out-rebounding the Tigers on the offensive glass 13-12.

The Lions shot 36.7% from the floor on Thursday night while being held to 5-19 from three and 6-13 from the foul line. Lindenwood was forced into 15 turnovers while TSU also had 15. Defensively, the Lion scored 18 points on turnovers while points were even in the paint at 34-34.

Lindenwood started out the gate fast going on a 8-0 run through the first three minutes of the game. During that span, the Lions forced five early TSU turnovers resulting in four points.
 
Tennessee State was able to cut the lead to two with 14:24 remaining after a dunk by Carlous Williams. Lindenwood went 0-6 on field-goals during their next couple possessions before Bass made a driving lay-up putting LU ahead 10-6.
 
The Tigers pulled ahead for their first lead of the game at the 10:36 mark with a pull-up tree by Aaron Nkrumah. TSU went on a 10-0 run to pull ahead 19-13 before Futrell stopped the run with a free throw.
 
Lindenwood used a quick 6-0 run to cut the lead to 20-22 under the five minute mark including four points down low from Tounkara. TSU held their biggest lead of the first half (nine points) at 31-22  before Browning II ended the half with a fast break layup as LU headed into the locker room trailing 31-24.
 
The Lions shot 10-32 (31.3%) for the first half while going 1-8 from three-point range. Tennessee State was active on the boards out-rebounding the Lions 26-17 at the break. Lindenwood did hold TSU to 40.0% shooting from the field while forcing 10 first-half turnovers while getting four blocks and four steals.

With 16:10 left in the second half, the Lions cut the lead down to four points off a made three by Futrell. The Tigers stretched their lead to double-figures with just over 13 to play as the Lions tried to play catch up in the second half.

Lindenwood shot 42.9% from the floor in the second half, but Tennessee State was too hot from the field shooting over 50.0% over the final 20 minutes. The Tigers made five of their eight triples in the second half including a three by Knute Woods to put the Tigers up 18 with 4:40 left. A few late threes from the Lions ended the game as the Lions fell 69-55 in the OVC Quarterfinals.

Lindenwood closed out their 2024-25 season with a 16-17 record and a 10-10 conference record.