NASHVILLE, TN. - The Lindenwood Men's Basketball team (16-12, 10-7 OVC) fell on the road at Tennessee State on Thursday night by a final score of 89-80.
Anias Futrell led the Lions with 27 points and
Dontrez Williams scored a career-high 24 points in the contest with the Tigers, but it wasn't enough as the Lions dropped to 10-7 in the OVC with three games to go in the regular season.
The Lions started off the game on an extended 26-12 run over the first seven minutes of the first half behind three three pointers from
Anias Futrell and a three pointer from
Dontrez Williams to put Lindenwood up by 14 early, but Tennessee State responded with a 22-7 run over the next six minutes to grab a 34-33 lead with 6:10 remaining in the opening half. The Tigers extended their lead out to 42-37 with just over a minute to go in the half, but
Milos Nenadic knocked down two free throws and Futrell buried his fifth three pointer of the half with 30 seconds left to tie the score at 42 heading into the break. Futrell had 16 points in the first 20 minutes of play shooting 5-6 from the floor, while Williams had eight points and
Mekhi Cooper had four assists.
In the second half,
Robert Lewis scored four points early to give Lindenwood a 50-48 advantage with 16:57 to go in the game. The two teams traded baskets over the next several possessions, each going on separate runs during a seven-minute stretch. The Lions held on to their two-point lead, and after capping a 5–0 run with a fast-break layup,
Milos Nenadic pushed the Lindenwood lead back to 63–61 with 9:31 remaining.
Anias Futrell and Nenadic scored the next five points for Lindenwood to maintain their two point cushion at 68-66 with 5:44 to go, but Tennessee State used a 13-4 run over the final five minutes to put the game away and handed the Lions their third loss on the road in conference play this season. Lindenwood shot 48.3% from the floor for the game compared to TSU's 43.7%, but the Tigers forced 19 turnovers in the contest that led to 31 points while the Lions forced 12 turnovers that led to only seven points for the Black and Gold.
Lindenwood will wrap up their road trip on Saturday at Tennessee Tech with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.
