Blue Raiders force the Bears to commit 21 turnovers in the victory
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio – The Lindsey Wilson men’s basketball team used a strong defensive effort to defeat Shawnee State (Ohio) 69-52 on Thursday night at the Frank and Janis Waller Gymnasium.
The Blue Raiders (4-3, 1-1 MSC) forced 21 turnovers by the Bears while giving up 52 points, the second-lowest allowance of the season.
Shawnee State falls to 1-5 overall with a 0-3 mark in conference play.
The Blue Raiders opened the game on a 7-2 run before the Bears brought it back level at 11-11. Another 6-0 Lindsey Wilson run capped off by a pair of Bryan Wallace free throws put the Blue Raiders up 17-11 at the 11:38 mark.
Lindsey Wilson then struggled to find any offense as the Blue Raiders went all the way to the 6:47 mark before their next score, a three-point play by Tony Menton.
The Blue Raiders pushed the lead to eight points at 27-19, but the Bears scored eight straight to tie the game at 27-27 with 1:44 to play in the half.
Lindsey Wilson scored the final points of the half with back-to-back three pointers by Charles Sutton and D’on Hall to take a 33-27 lead into halftime.
The teams were evenly matched at the half, Lindsey Wilson shooting 40 percent from the field with 19 rebounds while Shawnee State shot 37 percent with 21 rebounds. Both squads made four three-point field goals in the first 20 minutes of play. Lindsey Wilson committed just five turnovers compared to eight by the Bears.
The Blue Raiders came out determined in the second half, forcing three Shawnee State turnovers while outscoring the Bears 11-2 in the opening three-plus minutes of play.
Lindsey Wilson started the half on a 20-6 run to build a 53-33 lead with 12:11 to play in the game.
The deficit proved to be too much for Shawnee State as the Bears were only able to get within 14 points of the Blue Raiders for the remainder of the game as Lindsey Wilson cruised to the 69-52 win.
The Blue Raiders shot 42.6 percent from the floor and finished 8-of-18 for 44.4 percent from beyond the arc, committing just 11 turnovers all night.
Shawnee State shot 41.2 percent from the field and made just 5-of-20 attempts from three-point range with their 21 turnovers.
Wallace led the way for Lindsey Wilson with 14 points. Sutton and Julian Edmonson reached double-digit points with 10 apiece. Kevin Bradshaw added six points while grabbing a season-high 10 rebounds.
Shawnee State’s Andrew Bendolph led all scorers with 17 points. He was the lone Bear to reach double figures.
Lindsey Wilson heads to Georgetown (Ky.) on Saturday for another Mid-South Conference road matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.
