The Lindenwood men's basketball team (9-20, 4-12 OVC) will close out the regular season this week, starting with an 8:00 p.m. start on Thursday as the Lions host Southeast Missouri State inside Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.

Lindenwood is looking to earn the final spot in the OVC Championship tournament which begins on March 1 in Evansville, Ind.  The Lions are one game back from eighth place, as Eastern Illinois and Little Rock are tied with five conference wins each.  Should all three schools end the regular season with the same number of wins, the Lions would win the first tiebreaker and head to the conference tournament.

Lindenwood is coming off of a tough loss to Morehead State on Saturday.  Keenon Cole registered just two points in the first half, but erupted for 20 in the second frame to end his night with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting.  Cole was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from behind the arc in the second half, and tallied another double-double with his 13 rebounds.

In the last meeting with the Redhawks on January 12, the Lions lost 94-71 in Cape Girardeau, Mo.  Chris Childs had a great night shooting the ball, as he nailed six three pointers for a total of 22 points.  Cole compiled 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, while Cam Burrell dropped 17 points with three assists.

Southeast Missouri State is in a tie for second place in the league standings with UT Martin.  Along with the top seed, the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament will receive a double-bye, and automatically advance to the semifinal round.

Lindenwood will end the regular season on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff against Little Rock from Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.