LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock led by as many as 20 in the first half, but a furious second half rally for Lindenwood propelled the Lions past the Trojans 67-62 at the Jack Stephens Center Wednesday night.
The Trojans held a 14-point halftime lead, but managed just two field goals over the final 10 minutes as the Lions closed the game on a 22-7 run, outscoring Little Rock 40-21 in the second half. The Lions made 11 of their final 13 shots while the Trojans were just 1-for-12 down the stretch.
The loss overshadowed another stellar performance from
Myron Gardner, who registered his Ohio Valley Conference-best ninth double-double, finishing with 16 points and a season-high 15 rebounds along with two assists and two steals.
Gardner was one of three Trojans to finish in double figures, followed by a career-high 11 points for
Ante Beljan in his first career start. Beljan became the 10th different Trojan to reach double figures, going 5-for-7 from the floor with three rebounds and a pair of assists.
DeAntoni Gordon was the third Trojan in double figures, finishing just shy of a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds. But Gordon was limited to just 26 minutes with foul trouble, fouling out with just under eight minutes to play.
Jordan Jefferson finished with nine points, ending his streak of seven-straight games in double figures, while
D.J. Smith added seven points and
Ethan Speaker added six points and five rebounds.
Little Rock shot 39.1% for the game, making 25-of-64 from the floor, which was propelled by shooting 50.0% in the first half. The Trojans were just 5-of-20 from three point range (25.0%) and 7-of-11 from the floor (63.6%).
Lindenwood finished at 48.9% shooting for the game, including 66.7% in the second half (14-of-21), knocking down 5-of-8 from three point range (62.5%) over the final 20 minutes.
Both teams finished with 35 rebounds, but 13 offensive boards for the Trojans led to a 13-7 edge in second chance points. The Trojans forced 17 Lion turnovers, compared to just nine on the offensive end, but were only able to turn that into 13 points.
Playing on its newly installed temporary court, Little Rock came out the aggressor, scoring 15 of the game's first 18 points, including an 11-0 run to build a 15-3 lead at the 15:48 mark. Beljan made his presence felt in his first career start, scoring seven during that run to help propel the Trojans.
After exchanging baskets and Lindenwood cutting the deficit to 10 at 19-9, Little Rock then reeled off an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 18 at 27-9 with Gardner and Speaker accounting for all of the Trojan points during the stretch. Back-to-back layups for the Trojans upped their lead to 20 at 31-11 before a 10-0 run cut the lead to 10 at 31-21 with 4:20 left in the half.
But the Trojans responded with a 7-0 run of their own, extending the lead back to 17 at 38-21 with 1:48 left in the half. Lindenwood closed the half on a 6-2 run, but a jumper by Jefferson in the closing seconds gave Little Rock the 41-27 lead at intermission.
Little Rock shot 50% from the floor in the opening half, led by nine points each from Beljan and Gardner, who finished with eight rebounds. Gordon added eight points as the Trojan defense held the Lions to 34.6% from the floor and 23.1% from three point range.
The Trojans pushed its lead back to 18 early in the second half behind a three from Smith and a layup from Beljan as he became the 10th different Trojan to reach double figures this season. But a 10-2 run for the Lions cut the lead down to 10 at 48-38 with 12:50 remaining behind back-to-back threes.
Gardner ended the run with a three to give him his ninth double-double of the season. But Lindenwood continued to chip into the lead, hitting nine of 10 attempts from the floor, including eight-straight, and using a 12-2 run to trim the Little Rock lead to three at 55-52 with 8:59 remaining.
A Jefferson three pushed the lead back to six at 58-52, but Lindenwood responded again with another run, outscoring the Trojans 16-3 over a six-minute span to take a 61-58 lead with 4:02 remaining, holding Little Rock scoreless for nearly five minutes.
A pair of Gardner free throws pulled Little Rock to within one with 61-60 with 4:00 remaining, then a layup with 48 seconds remaining pulled the Trojans to within one at 63-62. After a defensive stop, Gardner drove the lane and looked to draw a foul, but a foul on the rebound, followed by a technical foul on the Trojan bench, led to four Lion free throws to put the game away.
Chris Childs and Keenon Cole combined for 46 of Lindenwood's 67 points as Cole notched a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, going 5-for-5 from three point range. Cole finished with 23, going 7-of-14 from the floor and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
Little Rock will look to bounce back Saturday when the Trojans host Southeast Missouri for the first time since 2002. Opening tip against the Redhawks is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the Jack Stephens Center.
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