FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Lindenwood 81, Rockford University 54
@Southern Illinois 81,
Southern Indiana 50
LINDENWOOD 81, ROCKFORD UNIVERSITY 54
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood men's basketball (6-7, 0-0 OVC) ended their non-conference schedule with a win at Hyland Arena over Rockford (9-3, 3-2 NACC) by a final score of 81-54. The Lions shot 55.4% from the field (31-56) and 75.0% from the foul line (15-20).
Keenon Cole was the Lions' leading scorer after posting 18 points on 8-15 shooting from the floor. Jeremiah Talton also chipped in a career high 15 points on 3-8 shooting including two threes. LU's 55.4% shooting was the second time the Lions have eclipsed 50% from the field this season.
Rockford starting the game leading for the majority of the first four minutes. Jaden Bell had six points at the second media timeout and led the way for the Regents that shot 5-7 from deep to start the game.
Lindenwood went on an 11-6 run to regain the lead at 27-25. Darius Beane and Jaylon McDaniel got involved in the offense during the run. Beane finished the game with seven points on 3-6 shooting while McDaniel had nine points and six rebounds down low.
The Lions stretched their lead at halftime to eight points 39-31. Five Lindenwood players had at least six points in the first half including Cole who led the team with eight points. LU shot 60.0% from the field in the first 20 minutes while Rockford shot 42.9% including 7-18 from three point range.
To start the second half, Lindenwood's aggressive defense led to some easy transition points as they started the second half on a 15-4 run to increase their lead to 54-35. Talton scored seven of his 15 points in the first four minutes of the second half. LU had 10 fast break points.
Lindenwood forced Rockford into 14 turnovers while picking up five steals. LU's defense also had four blocks including two from Jaylon McDaniel. Rockford was held to just 9-29 shooting in the second half as Lindenwood at a game high lead of 30 points at one point.
Keith Haymon II was perfect from the field (4-4) including hit two threes. He finished with 12 points, his second most this season. Beane also grabbed a team high seven rebounds while dishing out four assists.
Tommie Williams came off the bench and gave Lindenwood eight points in 24 minutes of action. Colin Ruffin and Nathan Johnson Jr. also scored six points each in the win. Lindenwood also out-rebounded Rockford 35-31.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 81, SOUTHERN INDIANA 50
CARBONDALE, Ill. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball could not overcome a series of first half runs and lost to Southern Illinois University, 81-50, Friday evening at the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles fall to 3-10 after tonight's action, while the Salukis are 8-4 overall in 2023-24.
It was a hard 20 minutes to start the game for the Eagles as they found themselves in a hole, 39-14, at the intermission. The Salukis took command of the game in the first half with a series of small runs, including an 11-0 sprint that gave them a 34-9 margin with 3:52 before halftime.
USI's offense also could not get out of neutral as it was held to 18.8 percent from the field (6-32).
In the second half, USI tried to pick up the pace but was only able to generate most of it offense from the free throw line. The Eagles got to the stripe 24 times, connecting on 17.
Despite getting to the line and shooting better in the final 20 minutes (34.8 percent; 8-23), USI was unable to cutting the SIU margin. The Salukis outscored the Eagles in the final 20 minutes, 42-36.
USI sophomore AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) was the only Eagle to reach double-digits with 14 points. Smith also recorded his fifth double-double of the season with a game-high 10 rebounds.