Lindenwood’s Darius Beane scored 25 points in the Lions’ win on Sunday. (Photo courtesy: Lindenwood Athletics)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lindenwood (3-3) | 38 | 33 | 71 |
| William & Mary (2-4) | 24 | 36 | 60 |
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
The Lindenwood University men’s basketball team won its second straight game and evened its record at 3-3, thanks to a convincing 71-60 win over William & Mary, Sunday afternoon, at the final day of the Air Force Classic.
Darius Beane led the Lions with his new career-high 25 points on 10-19 shooting. Beane also grabbed four rebounds and dished two assists for the Lions. Keith Haymon II shot lights out from the three hitting five of seven on his way to a season high 15 points. He also grabbed seven boards to lead Lindenwood.
As a team, Lindenwood shot 10-of-21 from three-point land, which was the Lions’ best shooting performance from outside of the season.
“What a week for our program early in the year and a tremendous effort today to close it out,” Lindenwood head coach Kyle Gerdeman said. “Everyone pitching in and doing their part as we continue to grow. We have a long way to go, but they deserve to feel good about this.”
Lindenwood started off the game going 5-5 from the field on their way to a 12-4 run before the first media timeout. The Tribe of William & Mary would continue to climb their way back early on getting as close as 17-15 after a three by Jack Karasinski.
The Lions went on a 12-0 run after the three by Karasinski including six points from Beane and two threes from Haymon II. Haymon made four of his five threes in the first half, all of them coming in the span of five and a half minutes. LU led 38-24 at the half. They shot 47% from the field in the first period. Beane and Haymon combined for 27 of LU’s 38 points in the first.
Lindenwood maintained a 10-12 point lead for the majority of the second half as Beane continued to make plays inside the paint. Jeremiah Talton also pitched in eight points, five of them coming in the second half. Keenon Cole also scored eight of his 13 points in the second half, continuing his stretch of scoring in double-figures in all six games this season.
Trey Moss hit a three-pointer with 5:47 left to play to cut Lindenwood’s lead down to four point 56-52. Talton then responded with a three of his own to push the lead back to seven. Cole added another three with 2:30 left to extend the Lions’ lead to nine.
With under a minute left, Lindenwood hit six huge free throws to close out the game and earn their second victory of the tournament. Lindenwood finished hitting 24-55 shots (43.6% FG) while splashing in 10 three pointers.
William & Mary shot 37.0% for the game and were held to just a 29.0% field-goal percentage in the first half. The Tribe was led by Chase Lowe with 17 points and seven rebounds.
The Lions will be off for eight days, before returning to the court on Monday, November 27, when they’ll host a home game at Hyland Arena against Utah Tech. That game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Lindenwood sports information contributed to this story.
Lindenwood 71
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Beane, Darius | * | 37 | 10-19 | 0-0 | 5-9 | 0-4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| 13 | Haymon II, Keith | * | 30 | 5-9 | 5-7 | 0-0 | 0-7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 24 | Cole, Keenon | * | 36 | 4-12 | 2-6 | 3-4 | 2-5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 |
| 23 | Talton, Jeremiah | * | 28 | 3-7 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 05 | McDaniel, Jaylon | * | 14 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2-1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 01 | Ruffin, Colin | 16 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 03 | Williams, Tommie | 15 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 22 | Ondekane, Isaac | 13 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 15 | Johnson Jr., Nathan | 11 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 24-55 | 10-21 | 13-19 | 6-30 | 36 | 21 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 71 |
William & Mary 60
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Dorsey,Gabe | * | 28 | 4-8 | 4-8 | 4-4 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 05 | Collier,Noah | * | 17 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 2-1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| 11 | Karasinski,Jack | * | 29 | 4-14 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 08 | Moss,Trey | * | 28 | 2-9 | 1-6 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 07 | Houpt,Sean | * | 11 | 0-3 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 02 | Lowe,Chase | 34 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 7-9 | 1-5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 17 | |
| 00 | Dorsey,Caleb | 24 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 24 | Hamilton,Tai | 12 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Lemond ,Jayden | 7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | Williams,Charlie | 6 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 25 | Hicks,Miles | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 20-54 | 6-25 | 14-21 | 9-28 | 37 | 21 | 9 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 60 |
2023-24 Lindenwood Lions Men’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 27, 2023 (Monday) | 7:00 p.m. | Home | Utah Tech | Hyland Arena |
| December 2, 2023 (Saturday) | 7:00 p.m. | Away | Idaho State University | Pocatello, ID |
| December 9, 2023 (Saturday) | 3:30 p.m. | Home | Kansas City | Hyland Arena |
| December 12, 2023 (Tuesday) | 7:00 p.m. | Home | Avila University | Hyland Arena |
| December 16, 2023 (Saturday) | 11:00 a.m. | Away | IUPUI | Indianapolis, IN |
| December 19, 2023 (Tuesday) | TBA | Away | Missouri State University | Springfield, MO |
| December 22, 2023 (Friday) | 6:00 p.m. | Home | Rockford University | Hyland Arena |
| December 31, 2023 (Sunday) | 2:30 p.m. | Home | Southern Indiana | Hyland Arena |
| January 6, 2024 (Saturday) | 2:30 p.m. | Away | Western Illinois | Macomb, IL |
| January 11, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Southeast Missouri State | Cape Girardeau, MO |
| January 13, 2024 (Saturday) | 3:30 p.m. | Away | Tennessee State | Nashville, TN |
| January 18, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | SIU-Edwardsville | Hyland Arena |
| January 20, 2024 (Saturday) | 3:30 p.m. | Home | Eastern Illinois | Hyland Arena |
| January 25, 2024 (Thursday) | 6:30 p.m. | Away | Little Rock | Little Rock, Ark. |
| January 27, 2024 (Saturday) | 3:30 p.m. | Away | Tennessee-Martin | Martin, TN |
| January 30, 2024 (Tuesday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Southeast Missouri State | Hyland Arena |
| February 1, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Western Illinois | Hyland Arena |
| February 8, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Tennessee State | Hyland Arena |
| February 10, 2024 (Saturday) | 3:30 p.m. | Home | Tennessee Tech | Hyland Arena |
| February 15, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | SIU-Edwardsville | Edwardsville, IL |
| February 17, 2024 (Saturday) | 3:30 p.m. | Away | Eastern Illinois | Charleston, IL |
| February 22, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Tennessee-Martin | Hyland Arena |
| February 24, 2024 (Saturday) | 3:30 p.m. | Home | Arkansas-Little Rock | Hyland Arena |
| February 29, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Southern Indiana | Evansville, IN |
| March 2, 2024 (Saturday) | 2:00 p.m. | Away | Morehead State | Morehead, KY |
| March 6-10, 2024 | TBA | Ford Center | Ohio Valley Conference | Evansville, IN |