Senior Chris Childs scored 23 points, Thursday night, to lead Lindenwood to a comeback win over Arkansas-Little Rock. (Photo courtesy: UALR Athletics)
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lindenwood (7-9, 2-1) | 27 | 40 | 67 |
| Little Rock (5-11, 1-2) | 41 | 21 | 62 |
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
LITTLE ROCK, AR — The Lindenwood University men’s basketball team battled back from a 20-point deficit to defeat the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, 67-62, Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
The host Trojans led 31-11 with just over six minutes left in the first half, after making 13 of their first 19 shots. But then, after making only three more shots the rest of the half, Little Rock still led 41-27 at halftime.
The second half though, was all Lindenwood. The Lions began quickly and trimmed the deficit to eight points with 11 minutes to go in the game.
Then after a Little Rock basket pushed the lead to 10 points again, Lindenwood went on a 14-3 run over the next four minutes to take its first lead at 59-58 with 5:51 to go. From that point on, the Lions never trailed again.
In fact, Little Rock missed its final nine shots, and only made one basket and two free throws over the final eight minutes of the game.
Once it got the lead, Lindenwood put the game away by making several clutch shots and adding a number of big-time free throws, most of which came from senior Chris Childs, who finished the night with a game-high 23 points.
The 6-foot-2 transfer from Indian Hills Community College scored 19 of those points in the second half, including the two free throws that gave Lindenwood that first lead and four free throws with nine seconds to go that put the game away after Little Rock had pulled to within a point.
Junior Keenon Cole also had a big night for the Lions. The 6-7 forward came off the bench to score 21 points, including a five-for-five night from three-point land, while also grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.
Senior point guard Kevin Caldwell, Jr. had nine points and four assists.
“Just a gutsy and true team win,” Lindenwood head coach Kyle Gerdeman said. “Guys stepped up in a lot of areas and contributed big minutes. Win or lose, it was a tremendous effort, and winning just makes everything feel a lot better. Our guys deserved that feeling tonight.”
The victory was Lindenwood’s second in a row, and lifted its overall record to 7-9 and 2-1 record in Ohio Valley Conference play, while Little Rock fell to 5-11 and 1-2.
The Lions will go for their third straight win on Saturday, January 7, when they’ll host Tennessee State at Hyland Arena at 3:30 p.m. The school’s women’s teams will also play that day. That game will begin at 1 p.m.
Lindenwood 67
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Chris Childs | * | 38 | 7-14 | 1-5 | 8-8 | 0-5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 11 | Kevin Caldwell, Jr. | * | 36 | 3-11 | 1-5 | 2-3 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 05 | Cam Burrell | * | 32 | 1-4 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 04 | Jacob Tracey | * | 10 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 00 | David Ware | * | 8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Keenon Cole | 30 | 8-10 | 5-5 | 0-1 | 2-9 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | |
| 42 | Remy Lemovou | 12 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | |
| 03 | Tommie Williams | 11 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| 02 | Brandon Trimble | 23 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 23-47 | 8-21 | 13-16 | 5-30 | 35 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 67 |
Little Rock 62
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Myron Gardner | * | 33 | 5-12 | 2-3 | 4-6 | 4-11 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| 21 | Ante Beljan | * | 26 | 5-7 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3-0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 01 | DeAntoni Gordon | * | 25 | 4-8 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 3-5 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 12 | Jordan Jefferson | * | 29 | 4-10 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 02 | D.J. Smith | * | 22 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 11 | Ethan Speaker | 21 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 2-3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 10 | Chris Walker | 17 | 1-7 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 05 | CJ White | 22 | 0-6 | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | Nigel John | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 00 | Daniel Egbuniwe | 2 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 25-64 | 5-20 | 7-11 | 13-22 | 35 | 16 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 62 |
| 2022 Lindenwood Lions Upcoming Men’s Basketball Schedule |
| Sat., January 7 — vs. Tennessee State* — 3:30 pm |
| Thu., January 12 — at SEMO* — 7 pm |
| Sat., January 14 — at SIUE* — 5:30 pm |
| Thu., January 19 — vs. Southern Indiana* — 8 pm |
| Sat., January 21 — vs. Morehead State* — 3:30 pm |
| Thu., January 26 — at Tennessee-Martin* — 8 pm |
| Sat., January 28 — at Tennessee State* — 3:30 pm |
| * – Denotes Ohio Valley Conference game |
| All Lindenwood home basketball games will be played at Hyland Arena. |