The Lindenwood men’s basketball team saw one of its top seasons in school history come to an end by just a single point on Monday night. The Lions fell in overtime to William Jewell by a 47-46 score in the HAAC Postseason Tournament Championship game.
The first half was back and forth with five lead changes. William Jewell scored the final five points of the half to lead 23-19 at the break. The big difference in the period was the Cardinals knocking down five three-pointers for the majority of their points.
Lindenwood trailed for much of the second half until taking a two-point advantage with under nine minutes remaining. William Jewell answered with a 4-0 run, but
Joey Parker put the Lions ahead 40-39 with a three-point play. A
Brett Thompson free throw and
Jerome Douglas bucket gave Lindenwood a four-point lead, but it couldn’t put the game away as it failed to score in the final four minutes. William Jewell got within two with free throws with 1:26 remaining, and then tied it with a field goal with 36 seconds left. The game went into overtime when Lindenwood couldn’t convert on its final possession.
In the extra period, William Jewell scored the first four points as Lindenwood didn’t connect on a field goal for the first four minutes. Thompson finally hit a shot to make the score 47-46, and William Jewell missed the front end of a one-and-one to give Lindenwood a chance to win. Once again, the Lions couldn’t find a basket in the final seconds to allow the home team to escape with a victory and tournament championship.
Lindenwood shot just 34.6 percent from the field, but stayed in the game with 15 offensive rebounds and only nine turnovers. The Cardinals shot 44.2 percent from the field, but was under 30 percent from three-point range as they didn’t hit another long range shot in the second half or overtime periods.
Thompson led the Lions with a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. He made six-of-nine from the field as he was the only Lindenwood player to make over half of his attempts. Parker finished with 12 points and four assists, and Douglas had the top game of his Lion career with eight points and nine rebounds.
Lindenwood ends its season with a 23-10 overall record. It finished fourth in the conference regular season and advanced to the conference championship game for just the second time since joining the HAAC. Brad Soderberg finished his first year as a Lion with the most wins he has earned in a single season during his 14 year head coaching career.