ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood Men's Basketball (12-8, 6-3 OVC) bounced back from their previous game on Saturday with a 21 point win at home over Tennessee Tech by a final score of 89-68 inside of Hyland Arena on Thursday night.
Anias Futrell picked up his second double-double of the season in the victory for the Lions, scoring a game-high 25 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
Dontrez Williams,
Jadis Jones, and
Milos Nenadic also scored in double figures tonight as the offense shot 56.7% from the floor and 80% from the free throw line.
The first half saw the Lions come out with a lot of energy early on as Lindenwood broke the game wide open going on a 21-5 run through the first 5:30 of the opening half.
Anias Futrell buried two of his first three three point attempts during the run while
Jadis Jones,
Dontrez Williams, and
Milos Nenadic scored a combined 12 points early in the contest, all of which came inside the paint. Tennessee Tech cut the lead to eight with less than eight minutes to go, but the Lions used their second big run of the half to create distance between them and the Golden Eagles. LU ended the first half on a 20-9 run and led 47-26 at the break as the defense forced Tennessee Tech into 11 turnovers which led to 19 points for the Lions including 15 on the fast break. Futrell led the Lions with 14 points at the half and Jones added 11 points on 5-6 shooting.
In the second half, the two squads went on mini 4-0 runs to start as Lindenwood maintained a steady 21 point lead less than three minutes into the half. Lindenwood would then extend their lead to the largest of the game at 30 by a score of 67-37 after
Clayton Jackson connected on a mid range jumper to end a 16-5 Lindenwood run. The defense allowed Tennessee Tech to just 35% from the field for the entire game, and forced 16 turnovers that led to 27 points for the Lions.
Dontrez Williams scored 10 second half points to finish the game with 16, while Futrell continued to pour it on in the second half scoring 11 points on 5-7 shooting from the floor. The Lions handled business on their home floor and defeated Tennesee Tech by a final score of 89-68.
In the last two conference games, Lindenwood's defense has limited their opponents to 68.5 points per game and have forced an average of 16.5 turnovers in those two contests. With the win tonight, Lindenwood improves to 6-3 in the OVC and currently sits in third place just one game back of UT Martin who is still leading the Conference with a 7-2 record. Lindenwood will return to Hyland Arena on Saturday afternoon to take on the 6-3 Tennessee State Tigers. Tip off from Hyland Arena is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.
