The Lindenwood men's basketball team knocked off its fourth nationally ranked opponent of the season on Thursday night with a 65-56 victory over the first-place team in the HAAC, No. 12 Central Methodist. The victory was the 20th of the season for the Lions, marking the fifth time in school history that it reached the 20-win mark.

The turning point of the game came midway through the second half when Lindenwood received a technical foul. Central Methodist hit one of the free throws to go up 43-38, but the Lions outscored the Eagles 27-13 from that point on. Lindenwood missed its first field goal after that but did not miss another one for the final 10 minutes of the game. It hit its final seven field goals and went 10-of-12 from the free throw line to close the game out.

The big run came with Lindenwood down 45-42 when it went on a 13-0 spurt. Joey Parker started the run with back-to-back three-pointers and Richard Rose had five points in that span.

Prior to the turning point, Central Methodist had led most of the game. The Eagles went on a 10-0 run early in the first half to take a 17-8 lead. Lindenwood would tie it at 21 but Central Methodist closed out the half strong and led 28-22 at the break. The second half started with both teams exchanging leads early on. Lindenwood went on an 11-0 run to go up 36-30, but the Eagles answered with a 13-2 streak that ended with the technical.

Central Methodist came into the game as one of the top defensive teams and top shooting teams in the NAIA. Lindenwood shot over 50 percent from the field, including 68.4 percent in the final half. Defensively, Central Methodist shot just 37.5 percent from the field and was six-of-16 from three-point range. The Eagles recorded just one point over their season-low for scoring.

Lindenwood also collected five more rebounds, five more assists, one less turnover, three more blocks and three more steals than the Eagles.

Rose led Lindenwood with 17 points, after making six-of-12 from the field, including three-of-five from three-point range. Parker had 13 points and seven assists, and Toriano Adams recorded 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. David King came off the bench to score nine points, and Brett Thompson and Alfred Nelson each had seven.

The win for Lindenwood was its ninth in the last 10 games, and improved the squad to 11-1 on its home court. The Lions have another must win contest in their final home contest on Saturday afternoon versus MidAmerica Nazarene.