Stephens scores 33 points in LU-Belleville victory

Behind ShunQuez Stephens career-night, the Lindenwood University-Belleville men’s basketball team earned its fifth win in its last six games, as the Lynx defeated Williams Baptist College 84-79 in an American Midwest Conference game.

After a 3-pointer made by Stanley Malcom, with .06 seconds left, the Lynx (9-10; 6-6 AMC), were up just 80-79. After a WBC foul, Alex Stuart went to the line for a one-and-one, but missed his shot attempt. Stephens, however, came up with the rebound and scored the put-back, giving the Lynx an 82-79 lead.

Then, on its in-bound play, the Eagles threw the ball away and with Stephens netting two more free throws, LU-Belleville was able to secure the hard fought five-point win.

Stephens, dominated on the evening, scoring a career-high 33 points on 14-of-21 shooting, which were also new high marks in field goals made and attempted. On the glass, he tied his career-high with 21, a mark he first back on January 2nd against Hannibal-LaGrange.

Stuart, provided a huge spark off the bench, totaling a career-high 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting, five his shots made came from downtown. Nate Sims, was the third Lynx player in double-figures, totaling 12 points, while Sean McGee added 11. Joshua Doughty, meanwhile, led the team in the assist department, dishing out a season-high 11, which breaks his own previous single-game record of 10.

As a team, the Lynx, shot 46.4 percent from the floor, 40.7 percent from downtown and won the battle on the glass, 43-39.

Williams Baptist College (7-7; 5-6 AMC), shot 46.3 percent from the field and were led by Stanley Malcom’s 24 points and 10 boards. Demoine Brown, contributed 15 points, while Tevin Howard (13 points), E.J. Rucker (11 points) and Aaron Hamby (10), were the final Eagles to reach in double-figures.

In the first half, the Lynx, jumped out to an 11-4 advantage, at the 14:21 mark, after Sims scored in the paint off a WBC turnover. The Eagles would respond, with a 7-0 run, capped off by Malcom’s bucket in the paint, which would tie the score up, already for the third time, at 11-all.

The Eagles, then, would retake the lead (14-13), with 10:58 left in the half, after Malcom drained his 3-pointer. They would continue to maintain its advantage and even stretch it out to 28-20, with 5:56 on the clock, after Malcom made his basket.

In less than two minutes, however, the Lynx, rattled off a 9-0 run, with Stephens basket in the paint, giving LU-Belleville a 29-28 lead. The two teams’ would continue to battle the final four minutes of action, but a late 3-pointer from McGee and the old-fashioned three-point play from Stephens, allowed the Lynx to close out on a 6-0 run and head into the locker room, ahead, 42-36.

LU-Belleville, shot 46.2 percent from the floor in the first half and were led by Stephens near double-double, totaling 21 points and nine boards. WBC, shot a slightly better 46.7 percent, with Malcom leading the team in points (11), rebounds (five) and assists (two). What did the Eagles in the first half was its nine turnovers.

In the second half, the Eagles came out on a 6-0 run, which tied the scoreboard up at 42-all, with plenty of time on the clock. The Lynx, again weren’t phased by the tie, as they answered with a 14-3 run, over the next three minutes, with Stuart’s 3-pointer, giving them a comfortable 56-45 lead, with 14:40 left in regulation.

Another Stuart 3-pointer would extend the lead out to 61-48, at the 13:14 mark, but an 8-0 run by the Eagles put them back in the game, as they trailed now just 61-56, after Brown made his two-pointer.

With 9:29 remaining, the Lynx, got its lead back out to double-digits (70-60), however, a 10-2 run, saw that advantage dwindle down to two (72-70), after Malcom hit a 3-pointer, with 5:44 on the clock.

LU-Belleville, would cling to its advantage, with minutes on the clock, but the Eagles effort finally paid off, as they tied the score up at 76-all, after Malcom made his two point basket with 1:51 left. Stephens, would answer with .53 seconds left, with a bucket of his own, which gave the Lynx the lead back at 78-76.

Despite the late run, the Lynx, were able to put away the Eagles and secure their sixth AMC victory.

The Lynx will have another tough test in its next time out, as they will host No. 20-ranked Freed-Hardeman University. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Austin Peay 90, SIUE 86

Josh Robinson scored seven of his career-high 39 points in overtime, and Austin Peay beat SIU-Edwardsville on Thursday night in Clarkesville, Tenn., to give coach Dave Loos his 400th win in the program.

Robinson made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime, finished on 9-of-27 shooting with four 3s, and made 17 of 18 free throws. Chris Horton added 15 points and 15 rebounds for Austin Peay (9-12, 2-4 Ohio Valley).

Burak Eslik and Jake Newton scored 22 points apiece to lead the Cougars (4-15, 1-6).

Newton made a 3, Yemi Makanjuola added two free throws and SIU-Edwardsville led 83-80. Robinson answered with two free throws and a layup, but Eslik made three free throws and the Cougars regained the lead, 86-84.

Zach Glotta hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with a minute left, and Robinson added three from the line to seal it.

Loos is in his 26th season at Austin Peay.

Saint Joseph’s College 79, McKendree 73

The McKendree University men’s basketball team saw a late lead slip away in a loss Thursday evening at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind.

The Bearcats, who held a 36-31 advantage at the half and led by as many as eight points during the game, could not hold off a late burst by the host Pumas in Great Lakes Valley Conference action. McKendree moves to 9-7 overall and 2-6 in the GLVC. The Bearcats will remain on the road for another conference battle at the University of Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 2:15 p.m. CST at Nicoson Hall in Indianapolis, Ind.

Senior center David Newton poured in a career-high 20 points to lead the way for McKendree. Junior guard David Franklin (O’Fallon) registered a double-double with 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the contest. Franklin also had four assists against Saint Joseph’s. Junior guard Michael Jackson (O’Fallon) chipped in with 11 points for the Bearcats.

After holding its five-point lead at the half, McKendree surged out to a 52-46 advantage following a flay-up by Newton with 11:26 to play. Saint Joseph’s responded with an 8-2 run to tie the game at 54-54 midway through the second half. The teams battled back and forth for the next several minutes before the Pumas surged out to a 63-60 lead with just over seven minutes left.

A free throw by Franklin and a lay-up from Jackson at the 4:57 mark knotted the score once again at 63-63. The teams traded baskets before Saint Joseph’s posted the next six points for a 71-65 lead and never trailed again. McKendree got as close as 75-73 thanks to a driving lay-up from freshman guard Nate Michael with just over nine seconds to play. From there, the Pumas hit their final four free throw attempts to seal the win.

In the first half, McKendree controlled the tempo and raced out to an eight-point advantage on three different occasions, the last coming at 36-28 following a lay-up by Jackson with 2:09 remaining until the intermission. The Bearcats shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) in the opening period to build its 36-31 lead at the break.

Davone Daniels came off the bench to lead Saint Joseph’s (9-9, 4-4 GLVC) with 18 points. Davious Webster connected for 14 of his 16 points in the second half for the Pumas as Jordan Seele grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.

McKendree 60, St. Joseph’s College 48

McKendree senior guard Kelsee Ennis and junior guard/forward Shannon McGinnis both recorded career-high scoring efforts on Thursday night in a college women’s basketball win at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind.

The Bearcats improve to 8-10 overall and 3-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and will travel to Indianapolis, Ind., on Saturday, Jan. 23 to face University of Indianapolis at 1 p.m. ET.

Ennis led McKendree with 16 points, while junior forward Ellie Pusheck had 15 points. McGinnis added 12 points and eight rebounds in the win.

McKendree led from the start, taking a 9-3 lead six minutes into the first quarter, but the Pumas scored the last seven points of the quarter to take a 12-11 lead.

The Bearcats regained the lead for good shortly into the second quarter on a pair of free throws by Ennis, and used a 8-0 run in the middle of the quarter to build a 24-15 lead. Senior guard Kacey Johnson ended the half with a layup to head into the half with a 30-22 lead.

McKendree held a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half, and gained it largest lead, 49-34, on a layup by McGinnis with 8:16 left to go in the game. Saint Joseph's cut their deficit down to nine on two occasions in the fourth quarter, but the Bearcats held off the Pumas to earn the win.

Kalea Parks led all players with 20 points for Saint Joseph's.

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Stephens scores 33 points in LU-Belleville victory."