Heartbreak in Overtime: Men’s Basketball Falls to Eastern Illinois

CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Lindenwood men’s basketball team (6-8, 1-2 OVC) fought back from a 16-point disadvantage but ultimately lost to Eastern Illinois (5-8, 1-1 OVC) with a final score of 78-74 in overtime. The Lions made crucial three-point shots within the last two minutes of regulation, however, the Panthers took control in the overtime period to clinch the victory.

“Too many errors over 45 minutes to secure a win in the OVC,” stated head coach Kyle Gerdeman. “I praise our players for their effort and for coming back from a 16-point deficit. But we must take responsibility for it, learn from it, and quickly prepare for Saturday,”.

Markeith Browning II posted over 20 points for the fourth instance this season, contributing 21 points in the defeat with 7-15 shooting, including 6-7 from the free-throw line. He also provided a team-high of five assists and collected six rebounds. As a collective, Lindenwood recorded 14 assists on 21 successful field-goals.

Returning to Lindenwood after missing the previous four games, Anias Futrell made an impact by scoring 18-points and achieving 10-12 from the free-throw line. Jadis Jones also reached double digits, scoring 10 points and added five rebounds. Jones converted 7-10 at the charity stripe, while the team overall converted 25-33 from the free-throw line.

Lindenwood’s bench contributed 31 points against Eastern Illinois, with Futrell leading the way. Jalen Bouknight also scored nine points, all from three-point attempts. Jordan Wildy made his first career start at Lindenwood on Thursday and recorded six points and a team-high eight rebounds. EIU managed to out-rebound the Lions 40-38.

Both teams faced difficulties maintaining possession on offense, resulting in a combined total of 41 turnovers during the match. Lindenwood capitalized on EIU’s 21 turnovers, scoring 21 points, whereas the Panthers converted 20 points off the Lions’ turnovers. The Panthers narrowly led the Lions in paint points, 30-28.

Jones initiated the game successfully, making only his second three-pointer of the season. EIU countered swiftly with a 13-1 run, taking a 13-4 lead with 15:23 left in the first half, after a three-pointer from Kooper Jacobi.

The teams went back-and-forth, with the Lions narrowing the gap to three points after a Futrell layup (17-14) with 7:26 remaining. Lindenwood reclaimed the lead for the first time in the first half with a free throw by Futrell (20-19), but EIU closed the half with a 16-7 run, heading into halftime with a 35-27 advantage.

Zion Fruster from Eastern Illinois netted 20 of his 29 points in the first half for EIU. Lindenwood shot 8-24 from the floor in the first half but managed to convert 9-12 from the free-throw line. EIU shot 13-28 from the field over the first 20 minutes and made 4-7 from three-point range. Wildy and Futrell both contributed six points for the Lions at halftime.

Eastern Illinois surged to their largest lead of the night at the 13:44 mark with a 13-5 run to start the half, leading Lindenwood by 16 points (48-32). Lindenwood struggled offensively to start the second half, making only 1-10 from the field.

The Lions trailed by double figures for the following five minutes but managed to reduce the deficit to nine points after Futrell converted three free throws with 8:49 left. Following a resurgence by EIU, who stretched their lead back to 12 points (4:28), Lindenwood began their comeback, aided by a three-pointer from Bouknight that cut the lead to seven at 58-51.

Aly Tounkara entered the scoring mix with a powerful putback dunk on the subsequent possession. After a layup from Browning that narrowed the gap to two, Bouknight hit another three-pointer with 1:23 remaining, granting Lindenwood the lead at 60-59. EIU managed one free throw on their next possession to tie the game at 60, but Futrell sunk his only three-pointer of the match, giving LU a 63-60 advantage with 40 seconds left. With just three seconds on the clock, Obadiah Curtis made a jumper off a loose ball, forcing the game into overtime in Charleston.

Eastern Illinois began the overtime period with a 9-2 run, capped by a layup from Rodolfo Bolis with 1:17 still on the clock. EIU converted 4-6 from the field in overtime and managed to hit their free-throws late in the period, finishing 6-9. Browning (five points) and Futrell (five points) accounted for all 10 points scored during the overtime as LU succumbed on Thursday.

Lindenwood is set to return to action on Saturday, Jan. 4th at SIUE, with the game beginning at 3:30 p.m. CT. For additional information, please visit lindenwoodlions.com.