Box Score For only the second time this season, the Lindenwood Lions were on the losing end of the final score. The Lions fell to the Central State Marauders in overtime 85-82 on the final day of the Texas Roadhouse Classic Saturday night in St. Charles, Mo.
The game started off on the right foot for the Lions. Lindenwood scored the first 12 out of 16 points, and held an eight point advantage. The Lions continued to lead until the 10:06 mark when the Marauders tied the score after a LeDonte Body layup. For the remaining 10 minutes of the opening half, the score teetered back-and-forth between the teams.
With the Lions leading by three and just 30 second to go, Central State's Deandre Riep hit a jump shot to cut the Lions advantage to one, and send the game to the half with Lindenwood leading by one.
The final 20 minutes started off well for the visitors. The Marauders jumped out to a 16-6 run and took a nine point lead. Central State held off a couple of Lindenwood rallies and continued to lead with just over two minutes to play in the game.
Trailing by three, Lindenwood's
Alex Bazzell hit a jumper from the corner to cut the deficit to one. After the Marauders missed a three-pointer
Kramer Soderberg was fouled and proceeded to hit one of two free-throws to tie the score.
But Central State took the lead again after Gerald Campbell hit a layup and was fouled. He hit the free throw to convert on the three-point play. With 1:52 to play,
Cody Sorenson hit a three from the top of the key to tie the game up yet again.
The Marauders retook the lead by two, via two free-throws from Lee Tabb. With the clock ticking under one minute to play,
Tyler Ressel hit a big three to give the home team a one point advantage. The lead was pushed to two after a Sorenson free-throw, but with 18 seconds to play Campbell for Central State grabbed an offensive rebound and tied the score with a layup.
The contest headed into overtime knotted up at 70. The overtime period was back-and-forth with the lead changing hands five separate times. With 2:05 to go, the game was tied at 79. From that point on it was all Central State. The Marauders sealed the game from the free-throw line and left town with an 85-82 win.
Lindenwood shot 45 percent from the field, 33 percent from behind the arc, and 70 percent from the charity stripe. Central State outrebounded the Lions 39-38.
Bazzell led the way for Lindenwood scoring 20 points while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds as well. Soderberg chipped in with 17 points and Sorenson scored 16. Both Bazzell and Soderberg were named to the All-Tournament team.
The loss snaps the Lions 13-game winning streak and drops the team to 16-2. Up next for Lindenwood is a home game against Central Oklahoma Thursday night at the Hyland Arena.
