The Lindenwood Lions have lost five straight, but will try to pick up a win Thursday at Tennessee-Martin. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer

Having lost five straight games, the Lindenwood University men’s basketball team will hit the road this weekend, for a two-game stint in the state of Tennessee. The first game will come Thursday night with a matchup against Tennessee-Martin. On Saturday, the Lions will be in Nashville to take on Tennessee State.

Lindenwood will head into the weekend with a 7-14 overall record and a 2-6 mark in Ohio Valley Conference contests, with four of those losses coming by 10 points or less.

The Lions are last in points per game during conference contests, but defensively are holding OVC schools to just 69.5 points per night, which ranks second in the league. Part of the stout defense is due to the league-leading 31 blocked shots, 18 of which have come from Cam Burrell.

Even though the Lions have been to the free throw line less than any other school in conference play, Lindenwood is atop the OVC with a 77.8 charity stripe percentage. Keenon Cole is efficiently posting 12.2 points per game on 54.7 percent shooting from the field, while shooting 48.1 percent from behind the arc.

Thursday’s contest is scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m., while Saturday’s matchup is slated for a 2 p.m. start.

Lindenwood’s next home game will come on Thursday, February 2, when the Lions will host Eastern Illinois. That contest at Hyland Arena is scheduled to tip-off at 8 p.m.