Lynx fall to Missouri Baptist while Lady Lynx earn win over Spartans

The Lindenwood University-Belleville men’s basketball team dropped a tough road game on Saturday afternoon, as the Lynx fell 87-72 in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Game of the Week.

The Lynx (10-12; 7-8 AMC), shot 36.4 percent from the floor and were led by ShunQuez Stephens’ game-high 23 points on 7-of-18 shooting and eight rebounds.

Alex Stuart went 4-of-10 from downtown and finished with 14 points off the bench, while Sean McGee netted 13 and dished out a team-high six assists. Nate Sims, meanwhile, was the fourth Lynx player in double-figures, netting 10 points.

Missouri Baptist (13-8; 8-5 AMC), couldn’t be slowed down offensively, as they finished with a field goal percentage of 57.1. Leading scorer James White ended with team-highs in points (16) and rebounds (nine).

Chriss Buzzell and John Caraballo added 13 each, while David Gabrovsek contributed 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting off the bench.

In the first half, it was the Spartans jumping out to an early advantage at 10-4, after White scored in the paint off a LU-Belleville turnover at the 16:15 mark.

MBU would then extend its lead out to 16-7 three minutes later, after Luke Call made his basket to cap off the 6-0 run. The Lynx would continue to stay within striking distance, until, after the score was 25-18 at the 9:08 mark, a 7-0 run put MBU up 32-18 with just over eight minutes left.

The Spartans would continue to maintain its double-digit advantage as the clock continued to tick away, but the Lynx would narrow the lead down to single-digits (40-31), after Stephens made both of his free throws with 3:52 remaining.

LU-Belleville got even more momentum on its side, as with 1:34 left in the half, Stephens’ two-pointer in the paint narrowed the Spartans lead down to 44-39. MBU, however, would halt the Lynx’s comeback effort, as a basket from Stephen Bucker and a 3-pointer form Luke Call with .06 seconds remaining, sent LU-Belleville into the locker room trailing 49-39.

The Lynx had its struggles from the floor in the half, owning a field goal percentage of 37.5, but the team made it count from the charity-stripe, knocking in 11 of its 12 attempts. Stephens was leading all scorers with 16 points.

Missouri Baptist shot a blistering 66.7 percent from the field and were led by White’s 11 points and Will Harrington’s five assists.

Through the first five minutes of the second half, the Spartans continued its hot-shooting, going on a 13-4 run, capped off a Buzzell 3-pointer, which put MBU ahead 62-44. The Lynx weren’t done though, as two consecutive 3-pointers made by Stuart had LU-Belleville down just 64-52 with 13:40 left in regulation.

Despite that run, MBU came back with another of its own, this time a 9-0 run, which gave them a 73-52 advantage. The Lynx countered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Sims and Stephens at the 10:09 mark, which cut the lead down to 73-58.

The Lynx did everything they could to get back into the game, but the Spartans offense had an answer for every run they had, which allowed them to go on for the 15-point win.

Lindenwood-Belleville will now look to regroup and get ready for a showdown on Thursday night inside Lynx Arena, as they host the No. 4-ranked Columbia College Cougars. Tipoff starts at 7:30 p.m.

LU-Belleville 69, Missouri Baptist 47

The Lindenwood University-Belleville women’s basketball team swept the regular season series against Missouri Baptist University on Saturday afternoon, as the Lady Lynx defeated the Spartans in St. Louis.

The Lady Lynx (8-14; 8-8 AMC), shot 43.8 percent from the floor and were led by Rilea Huff’s career-high 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting. She was also 5-of-9 from beyond-the-arc and added five rebounds. This is the second straight game Huff has totaled at least 23 points and the third time in the last six games.

Tiara Bramlett, a St. Louis, native, had a strong outing with 18 points, while Candace Niemerg, recorded her seventh double-double on the year, totaling 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Defensively, Lindenwood-Belleville limited the Spartans (7-11; 6-9 AMC), to a season-low 47 points, outrebounded them 45-38 and forced 14 turnovers. The Spartans offense was also held to single-digit points in the second and fourth quarters, which can be attributed to its 30.3 field goal percentage.

Missouri Baptist was led by Morgan Settle off the bench, as she was the lone player in double-figures, having 14 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

In the first quarter, it was the Lady Lynx trailing with 4:49 left, as a Niemerg basket in the paint put the score at 11-9. The team would take its first lead of the quarter at 16-15, after Niemerg scored again with 1:15 on the clock.

Missouri Baptist would regain the advantage at 17-16, after Cherish Walton made both of her free throws. In .48 seconds, however, Lindenwood-Belleville closed out a 5-0 run, capped off by Huff’s 3-pointer with .01 left, which put them up 21-17.

After the slow start out of the gate, LU-Belleville finished with a field goal percentage of 56.3, while MBU, who had a 7-0 lead, went cold from the floor as the quarter went on, finishing at 35.2 percent.

In the second, a basket from Settle with 9:33 remaining, cut the Lady Lynx lead down to 21-19. Over the next four minutes though, Lindenwood-Belleville went on an impressive 12-0 run, capped off by Bramlett’s fast break point, which extended the teams’ lead out to 33-19.

Another bucket from Bramlett would give the Lady Lynx a 37-21 advantage, at the 1:38 mark. The Spartans would continue to battle, finishing out a 4-0 run, but at the end of 20:00 minutes of play, Lindenwood-Belleville was in control at 37-25.

The team shot 46.9 percent from the field and were led by Bramlett’s 18 points, while MBU, was limited to a 28.6 field goal percentage and totaled 10 turnovers.

In the third quarter, the Lady Lynx offense continued rolling, as they would take a 46-29 lead, after a 6-0 at the 7:11 mark. With the clock continuing to tick down in the third, the Spartans slowly chipped at the Lindenwood-Belleville lead and a 3-pointer from Angela Talley, with .19 seconds left, put them down just 52-42, as they headed for the fourth.

In the fourth, MBU finally narrowed the lead down to single-digits, with 9:15 remaining in regulation, after Danna Jenkins made her two point shot.

That would be as close as they would get the rest of the way, with the Lady Lynx putting distance between themselves and the Spartans by going on a 6-0 run, with Kohrmann’s free throws at the six minute mark giving them a 58-44 lead.

From there, Lindenwood-Belleville ended the game on an 11-3 run and were able to secure the important 22-point road victory.

With the win, the team is now back to the .500 mark in conference play and are in sixth place in the conference.

The Lady Lynx will look to use its momentum its gained the last two outings and take it into Thursday night’s game at home, when they go toe-to-toe with No. 6-ranked Columbia College. Tip-off starts at 5:30 p.m.

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 8:59 PM with the headline "Lynx fall to Missouri Baptist while Lady Lynx earn win over Spartans."