ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood Men's Basketball fell on Saturday afternoon at home to Tennessee State by a final score of 96-86. Despite shooting 50% from the floor and both
Jadis Jones and
Anias Futrell scoring 20+ points, the Tigers shot 60.3% from the floor for the game to hand Lindenwood just their second home loss of the 2025-26 season.
TSU started fast to begin the game by using a quick 7-0 run less than 1:30 into the contest.
Dontrez Williams stopped the Tiger momentum by knocking down a three pointer to get the Lions on the board and ended the early run. After
Jadis Jones made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to two at 7-5,
Milos Nenadic and
Mekhi Cooper scored the next seven points for the Black and Gold to give them a spark offensively. LU grabbed their first lead of the first half at the 13:02 mark after Jones converted on back-to-back jumpers in the paint for a 20-18 lead. However, TSU responded with a 9-0 run behind two points from Travis Harper II and seven points form Dante Harris to grab a 27-20 lead with 9:40 remaining.
Anias Futrell would end the Tiger run scoring four straight points followed by
Clayton Jackson converting on a jumper to cut the deficit to 29-26 just before the under eight media timeout. Out of the timeout, Futrell connected from deep for the first time in the game with 5:52 to go and kept the Lions within striking distance at 32-31. Jackson and
Robert Lewis were both able to knock down both of their free throw attempts later in the half to maintain a slight 35-34 lead with just over four minutes to go in the first half, but TSU ended the half on a 9-4 run to take a 43-39 lead into the locker room. Jones led the Lions with 12 points in the first 20 minutes of play, while the Lions shot a perfect 10-10 from the charity stripe to stay within a few possessions of Tennessee State at the break.
In the second haf, the Tigers jumped out to a 10 point lead at 54-44 with 15:28 to go after starting the half on an 11-5 run. Lindenwood continued to excel from the free throw line as
Dontrez Williams knocked down two free throws and Jones added a free throw to make it a seven point game at 54-47 with 13:40 remaining. Jones cut the lead to six after converting on an and-one attempt, but TSU's Aaron Nkrumah scored five straight points for the Tigers to extend their lead back out to nine. Nkrumah knocked down another three a few possessions later as the Tigers went up by 12 with a little over nine minutes left on the clock. A few minutes later,
Milos Nenadic and
Anias Futrell connected on three pointers of their own following Nkrumah's offensive explosion to keep the Lions within reach at 77-71 with 7:02 to play. However, the Tigers responded once more taking their largest lead of the game at 88-73 going on an 11-3 run over the next three minutes to take control of the game.
Clayton Jackson got the Lions to within eight after a made layup in transition with 1:31 to go, but TSU scored on their next possession and sealed the 96-86 win over the Lions. Jackson finished the game with 15 points on 5-7 shooting which was his best offensive performance since scoring 17 points on January 1 against Morehead State.
Tennessee State shot 50% from beyond the three point line this afternoon knocking down 7-14 attempts while Lindenwood shot a season-high 90.9% from the free throw line converting on 20-22 free throw attempts. The Lions were able to force 15 turnovers that led to 21 points, but the defensive stops did not come when the Lions needed them the most. LU gave up 96 points this afternoon, which was the most points allowed by Lindenwood in a conference game this season.
The Lions will now hit the road next Thursday and Saturday with trips to Southern Indiana and Morehead State. Tip off with Southern Indiana in Evansville is set for Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. CT.
