The Lindenwood men's basketball team took the No. 22 Florida Southern Mocs to overtime on Saturday evening in Lakeland, Fla. The 22nd-ranked Mocs prevailed in overtime by a narrow 98-96 margin.
TJ Crockett had the first double-double of his career, scoring a career-high 41 points while also grabbing a career-best 10 rebounds.
GAME OVERVIEW
Lindenwood got off to a strong start, hitting four of its first six shots from the field, and each of its first four free throws over the first 3:28 of play. As a result, the Lions got out to a 14-3 lead over Florida Southern.
Vijay Blackmon had seven points for Lindenwood during its early run, while Crockett added five points.
Florida Southern battled back, eventually tying the score at 24-24 with just under seven minutes left before halftime.
With 6:16 left in the first half,
Anthony Christian hit a layup that sparked the Lions on a 7-0 run over the next 1:53, giving Lindenwood a 31-24 lead.
The Lions ended up carrying a four-point lead into the halftime intermission, leading the home team by a 38-34 margin.
Lindenwood extended its lead early in the second half, going ahead of Florida Southern by a 45-39 score with 16:55 remaining in regulation. The Mocs continued to climb back into the game, eventually tying the score at 68-68 with just over six minutes remaining.
Crockett then immediately knocked down back-to-back free throws to give the Lions a 70-68 lead, and sparked Lindenwood on a 8-0 run, resulting in a 76-68 lead.
The Lions held onto the lead into the final seconds of the second half, leading by three points with under 30 seconds to go. Florida Southern connected on a three-pointer, tying the score at 84-84.
Each team hit a pair of free throws over the final 23 seconds of action, sending the game to overtime tied at 86-86.
Florida Southern got out to a 90-88 lead in overtime, before
Luka Radosevic knocked down a shot from beyond the arc, giving Lindenwood a 91-90 lead with 2:45 to play.
The Mocs again regained the lead, hitting a layup to go in front 95-94 with 1:44 left. Crockett subsequently sunk a pair of free throws with 73 seconds remaining, sending the Lions in front by a 96-95 score.
Florida Southern would hold Lindenwood off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game, adding three free throws of their own, to seal the win by a 98-96 final.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Crockett finished the evening with a career-high 41-point performance (11-of-22 FG, 15-of-18 FT).
- Along with his career-high point total, Crockett had career-high marks in rebounds (10) and assists (6).
- Crockett matched a career-high with four made three-point field goals, finishing the game 4-of-6 from long range.
- Crockett has now led the Lions in scoring in five of the six games this season, and has scored at least 20 points in all six contests.
- Blackmon added 22 points (8-of-21 FG, 3-of-6 3PFG), his second straight game with at least 20 points.
- Christian totaled 14 points (6-of-10 FG), and added a career-high eight rebounds.
- As a team, Lindenwood shot 37.8 percent from the field (31-of-82).
QUOTABLE
Head coach Kyle Gerdeman
"I am pleased with the way that we bounced back effort wise from last Tuesday at UMSL," said Gerdeman. "That was the biggest priority of this game, and I think we accomplished that. It was disappointing to let the lead slip away late, but I think we showed some positives and glimpses of what we can become as the season moves forward."
UP NEXT
Lindenwood will return to St. Charles, Mo. to close out the final month of the year with three consecutive home games before the New Year. The Lions will host Hannibal-LaGrange on Dec. 12 inside Hyland Arena at 7:00 p.m.
