ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Little Rock Men's Basketball team won their seventh-straight contest on Saturday as the Trojans defeated Lindenwood 82-73 and moved into a tie for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Trojans have won their last ten out of 11 games and are now tied seventh in the nation for longest winning streak.
Makhel Mitchell led all scorers with 21 points, two points shy of his career high, and all rebounders with 14, a career-high, to record his third-straight double-double. He went 8-of-10 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Mitchell also contributed a team-high three blocks.
KK Robinson scored 19 points and led the team in assist with five.
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson scored 13 points, while
Jamir Chaplin recorded ten points, eight rebounds, and a team-high five assists in the win.
The Trojans (18-11, 12-4 OVC) held Lindenwood's leading scorer, Keenon Cole, to 12 points and six rebounds for the game, as the Lions were led by Keith Haymon who had 18 points, including six three-pointers.
Little Rock went 28-of-45 from the field for 62.2%, almost a season-high mark. For the second-straight game, the Trojans outscored their opponent by 20 points in the paint 40-20.
Little Rock opened the first half with a layup by Chaplin and a put back by Crocker-Johnson, before Lindenwood (8-21, 2-14 OVC) scored their first points at the 18:10 on a jumper.
Both teams scored five points, before a jumper by Gordon gave the Trojans the 11-7 lead with 14:43 remaining. The Lions answered back with a three to cut the lead to one.
The Trojans scored their first points in three minutes with a layup by Mitchell followed by a jumper by
Bradley Douglas to extend their lead. Back-to-back three-pointers by Lindenwood gave the Lions their first lead of the game at 16-15 with 9:57 remaining in the half.
Lindenwood extended their advantage to three, before Little Rock went on a 9-0 run with all of the points coming from
Jordan Jefferson and Crocker-Johnson to regain a 26-20 lead with 5:36 until the half.
With 2:11 left in the first half, the Lions knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to cut the Little Rock lead to 34-31.
In the last 339 seconds, the Trojans outscored the Lindenwood 3-1 including a put back by Mitchell for the 37-32 half-time lead.
Lindenwood opened the second half with a three-pointer, before Crocker-Johnson scored on a three-point play bringing the score to 40-35 in Little Rock's favor.
The Lions cut the lead to two on a three-pointer at the 16:18 mark, but the Trojans answered back with six-straight points, including four from Robinson, to extend the advantage back to 48-40.
Over the next two minutes, the Lions held Little Rock to just two points while scoring five to cut the lead to 50-45 with 12:38 left in the game.
With 10:41 left in the game, the Lions narrowed the Trojan lead to one on a three-point play, but Little Rock answered back with seven-straight points including five from Mitchell to bring the lead to 61-53.
Both teams exchanged points, before a three-pointer by Robinson with 5:10 remaining gave the Trojans a 70-64 advantage.
With 2:44 left in the game, Robinson sparked a 6-0 run on a layup to extend the lead to 78-68.
After a three by Lindenwood cut the lead to five with 38.1 seconds remaining, the Trojans locked down on defense holding the Lions scoreless while going 4-of-6 from the free throw line for the 82-73 win.
The Trojans end the regular season at home next week. Little Rock will host Tennessee State for an ESPNU nationally broadcast game on Thursday, February 29, before hosting Tennessee Tech on Saturday, March 2.
For the latest information on Little Rock Basketball, make sure to check out
LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockMBB on
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