ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Lindenwood men’s basketball (5-7, 0-1 OVC) fell during their Ohio Valley Conference opener against the Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech (5-7, 1-1 OVC) by a final score of 79-73. The Lions’ comeback got as close as two points in the second half, but Tech pulled away late for their first win in OVC play.
Reggie Bass had a team-high 19 points against Tennessee Tech which also marked his most points at Lindenwood this season. He has now scored in double-digits in four straight games. Bass shot 7-13 from the floor (two three-pointers made) while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out two assists.
Markeith Browning II was active on both ends of the floor scoring 17 points and posting a team-high seven steals. Browning’s seven steals are the most by a Lindenwood player in a single game during the Division I era and the most since the 2019-20 season when Kamau Kinder had eight against Hannibal-LaGrange.
Jaylon McDaniel secured his second straight double-figure scoring outing of the season after scoring 12 points on 6-11 shooting. He also had six rebounds including five on the offensive glass. Lindenwood had 15 offensive rebounds including five from freshman Jadis Jones. Jones finished the game with eight points, nine rebounds and three assists. Jordan Wildy also chipped in nine points and four rebounds off the bench.
Lindenwood forced Tennessee Tech into 15 turnovers and scored 21 points off of those. LU had 12 steals in the game compared to just nine by the Golden Eagles. The Lions also dominated in the paint out-scoring TTU 52-30 in the painted area. Tennessee Tech did run the floor well scoring 27 fast break points.
Tennessee Tech’s three-point shooting on Thursday helped them past Lindenwood as they shot 11-24 from three including four triples from Matthew Sells. The Golden Eagles also went a perfect 11-11 from the line in the second half while LU was 2-8 down the stretch.
Lindenwood found themselves trailing early to start the game as they were down 12-8 at the field media timeout. LU started the game shooting 3-9 from the field while TTU started 2-3 from downtown. The Lions did not back down as the eventually tied the game at 24 after scoring 20 of their first 20 points in the paint.
LU’s first lead came with 7:19 remaining in the first half after Bass made a turn-around jumper off a turnover. During that span, Lindenwood went on a 15-0 run to take control of the game at 33-24 with 5:40 remaining. Tech made a comeback and scored a three by Kyle Layton with 26 seconds left in the half to lead 39-42.
Both teams started the second half shooting 3-6 from the field, but two of Tech’s made field-goals were threes as they opened up a seven-point lead with 15:42 remaining. Tech stretched out the lead to their first double-digit effort of the night with 11:22 remaining after a layup by JaJuan Nicholls.
Lindenwood’s last chance was when they cut the lead to two points at the 65-67 mark with 3:55 remaining. The Lions had opportunities at the line to tie or even take the lead but the Lions missed their last four free throw chances while Tech went 8-8 over the final four minutes of the game.
The Lions will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 21st against Western Illinois at 3:30 p.m. CT. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.
