The Lindenwood Men's Basketball team (0-1, 0-0 OVC) fell in their season opener on Monday night at TCU by a final score of 98-59. Malek Archie led the Lions in scoring with 18 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, while Lindenwood pulled down 16 offensive rebounds against the Horned Frogs.
To open the first half, Marsai Mason and Dom Clay each connected on their first three point attempts of the season to cut the early TCU lead down to four by a score of 12-8 at the under 16 media timeout. Coming out of the break, Malek Archie scored the next four points for the Black and Gold, but TCU responded with an 18-8 run over the next six minutes to build a 34-20 advantage with 8:37 remaining in the half. Archie and Derek Rollins briefly cut the deficit to 10, but the Horned Frogs closed the half with a 23-13 run to take a 57-37 lead into the locker room. TCU scored 19 of its 57 first half points at the free throw line, while Archie paced the Lions with 10 points before halftime.
In the second half, Noah Taitz scored four of Lindenwood's first five points to make it a 64-42 game with 15:49 remaining. However, the Horned Frogs responded with a 17-0 run to extend their lead to 81-42 with 10 minutes to play. TCU maintained its advantage the rest of the way to secure the 98-59 victory.
Over the final 10 minutes, Archie added eight more points, while Taitz chipped in five to finish with 12Â points in his Lindenwood debut. The Lions will return to action on Thursday night for their home opener against Central Bible at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
