CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. -- The Lindsey Wilson College men's basketball team got off to a hot start, building an 11 point-lead against eighth ranked Campbellsville (Ky.) University in the first half. The Tigers, however, cooled down the Blue Raider attack after halftime and won 66-61 on Thursday at the Powell Athletics Center.

Kalen Kimberland led the way for Lindsey Wilson with 19 points, while Andrija Tintor added 15 and Joshua Cherry tallied 12.

T.J. Bishop connected on 4-of-8 3-pointers to pace the Tigers with 15 points, while Nestor Colmenares added 14 points and nine rebounds.

Down 64-58 with 20 seconds to play, Chase Spreen got a chance from 3-point range to make it a one-possession game, but his shot bounced off the rim and into the hands of Colmenares.

Colmenares missed both of his ensuing free throws, but Lindsey Wilson still came up short on a shot by McPherson with less than five seconds to play.

Lindsey Wilson (13-14, 4-7 MSC) took its first lead at the 10-minute mark of the first half (13-12), then hit four straight free throws by Tintor and Eric McPherson and added a layup by Cherry to extend its lead to seven.

The Blue Raiders pulled ahead by as many as 11 points, and then went into a back-and-forth scoring battle with the Tigers. Campbellsville (21-6, 9-2 MSC) didn't drop the Lindsey Wilson lead below nine points until there were four minutes left in the first half.

A pair of free throws by Jordan Benock, pulled Campbellsville within two (25-23), followed by a foul by McPherson as he went for the offensive rebound, allowing Brett Crittenden to hit another pair of free throws to tie the game.

Campbellsville took the lead again as JaVaughn Espritt connected on a fast-break layup and got the blocking call on Jeremiah Diebler to add a point at the line and take a three-point lead.

Espritt grabbed the rebound on a missed 3-point attempt and scored the put-back basket as time expired to trim the Blue Raider lead down to one point at halftime (30-29).

Floating under the goal unmarked by the Blue Raiders, Espritt connected on a dunk to put Campbellsville back in front for the first time in the second half 38-37.

Colmenares followed the slam with a pair of free throws, and then T.J. Bishop hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Campbellsville a lead of nine points (46-37) with 12 minutes to play in the game.

Lindsey Wilson fought back within seven 49-42 near the nine-minute mark, however, Bishop delivered yet another dagger from beyond the arc, followed by an uncontested layup to build the largest lead of the game of 12 points (54-42).

Momentum began to shift back towards the Blue Raiders after Kemo Duncan set the tone with a powerful block that was followed by a Cherry steal and layup that was goal tended to pull Lindsey Wilson within seven (58-51).

The Blue Raiders, however, were never able to inch any closer than five as the Tigers pulled back ahead by as many as 10 points down the stretch.

Lindsey Wilson finished the game shooting 47.5 percent from the field with Campbellsville shooting a similar 43.8 percent. The Blue Raiders hit 3-of-10 3-pointers, while Campbellsville connected on 5-of-17.

The Blue Raiders shot extremely well from the free-throw line, knocking down 20-of-24 shots from the stripe.

Lindsey Wilson returns to action at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday against Georgetown (Ky.) College at Biggers Sports Center.