Lindenwood streak continues, Southeast MBB drops Thursday clash versus familiar face

Tasked against local phenom Jadis Jones and his Lindenwood Lions, Southeast men’s basketball couldn’t live up to its higher ranking in a 72-68 loss on the road in a rivalry clash that came all the way down to the final minute.

Maybe even more importantly, it’s a fourth consecutive loss to the Lions in just three years since they joined the ranks of Division I; That’s at least one in each season.

20 points from Anias Futrell, 17 from Jordan Wildy and 15 from the wunderkind Jones blasted Southeast right out the gate, and after the Redhawks raced to 20 points with LU, it started to fall apart.

Entering the half down 10 points, Southeast managed to rally back into a 3-point game coming down the stretch, making the Lions work for their win, but it was to no avail as the hosts always seemed to have a responding blow for each Redhawk effort.

Going into the matchup two games in front of Lindenwood, Southeast now stands at 5-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play, 10-10 overall while Lindenwood’s 4-5, 9-11 overall record is just inches from greeting its rival in the heat of the pack.

Southeast out-shot the Lions by 22 percent from the free-throw line and won the turnover battle, but the clichés weren’t enough to win.

26 fouls and an 11 percent deficit in field goal percentage kept Southeast constantly fighting to claw back into this one, and while Lindenwood never could pull away, the visiting Redhawks could never muster up a lead either.

Looking for bright spots, Southeast had a few heroes on the scoreboard Thursday as Brendan Terry, Rob Martin, Teddy Washington Jr. and B.J. Ward all finishing in double-digit scoring with 14, 12, 11 and 10 respectively.

Terry’s 6-for-8 night made the Redhawks’ shooting woes seem small, but going down the lineup it was more than prevalent; Players not named Brendan Terry shot 35 percent from the field overall.

Futrell finished with 4 steals in Lindenwood’s victory, and he linked up for some offensive highlights too with a 3-for-6 night from range to put the finishing touches on the Lindenwood victory.

The next step on the path is a matchup with Western Illinois, carefully toeing the line of Ohio Valley Conference Tournament contention at the bottom of the league.

Much like where Southeast was last year, the Leathernecks are angsty for an all-important conference victory, and they’ll be plenty hungry when the Redhawks come into Macomb, Illinois, with sights set on an elastic victory.