The Lindenwood men’s basketball team advanced to the HAAC Tournament Semifinals for the second year in a row on Wednesday evening at the Hyland Performance Arena. The Lions won their first-round contest against Missouri Valley by a 72-59 margin.
The game was two completely different halves of basketball. In the first half, both teams struggled to score as both teams shot around 40 percent from the field and combined to turn the ball over 12 times. The Lions and Vikings traded the lead six times before Lindenwood went on a 11-2 run to take a 22-14 lead, and it would hold on to a five-point advantage at halftime.
In the second half, both offenses heated up, including Lindenwood’s which shot 60.9 percent from the field for the period, including four-of-eight from three-point range. Missouri Valley took the lead after scoring the first seven points of the half, but Lindenwood quickly retook it with five straight points. The Vikings could never get the lead back, but was within one at 42-41 with 9:45 remaining. At that point, Lindenwood put the game away with a 13-3 run.
The Lions’ second half run was led by post players
Toriano Adams and
Brett Thompson, who combined to make all eight field goals they attempted. Lindenwood, which did not go to the free throw line in the first 20 minutes, also began to draw fouls after working it inside, and the team was 16-of-22 from the charity stripe in the final period.
Lindenwood finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field, compared to 48 percent for the Vikings. The Lions grabbed six more rebounds and forced four more turnovers.
Adams was the leading scorer for Lindenwood with 18 points, and was one rebound shy of a double-double. Thompson did record a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Joey Parker and
Richard Rose each had 12 points, and
Alfred Nelson had eight off the bench. All three of those players knocked down two three-pointers. Parker led the team with four assists, Thompson had two blocks, and
Jerome Douglas had a team-high two steals.
Lindenwood, which played its final home game of the season, finished the year with a 13-1 record on its home court. The Lions, who are now 22-9 overall on the year, will next travel to Central Methodist on Friday evening for a 7 p.m. contest against the HAAC Champions.