The Lindenwood men's basketball team (7-16, 2-8 OVC) hosts Eastern Illinois (7-16, 3-7 OVC) on Thursday in Hyland Arena at 7:00 p.m. in St. Charles, Mo.

The Lions are coming off of a loss to Tennessee State on Saturday. Lindenwood ended the game shooting 45 percent from three-point range, and put up 28 points in the paint, but the Lions couldn't keep pace with the hot shooting night from the Tigers.  Chris Childs went 7-of-13 from the floor to lead the Lions with 18 points.  Kevin Caldwell Jr. put up 14 points and grabbed 5 boards, as he also dished out four assists and collected a pair of steals.

Childs continues to lead the team with a scoring average of 13.1, while Caldwell Jr. and Keenon Cole each average 12.2 per contest.  Cole is leading the squad with an outstanding shooting percentage of 53.3 from the field, while he is efficiently making 46.7 percent of his three pointers.

Caldwell Jr. is nearing the century mark in assists, as the Alton, Ill. native has tallied 75 helpers through his 21 games played.  Caldwell Jr. has logged the most minutes (33.8) per game in the Ohio Valley Conference, while Cam Burrell ranks second in the league with 34 blocked shots.

Lindenwood begins its three-game home stand on Thursday, as the Lions also host UT Martin and SIUE over the next week.  The Panthers are led by Kinyon Hodges who is averaging 14.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.  Yaakema Rose is leading the team in rebounds with 4.2 per game, as he is adding 9.9 points per contest.

UT Martin will visit St. Charles on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff.