PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- It wasn't pretty, but the 22nd ranked Lindsey Wilson College men's basketball team made the tough shots when it mattered to get past Shawnee State (Ohio) University 51-44 on Thursday at the Frank and Janis Waller Gymnasium.
Sophomore Kalen Kimberland was perfect from the stripe, hitting 6-of-6 free throws to lead the Blue Raiders with 12 points, while senior Cornell Thomas added 10 points and five rebounds. Junior Chase Spreen was the leader on the glass with 11 rebounds.
Keelyn Franklin was the lone Bear in double figures with 10 points and Tyler Morgan added nine rebounds to lead Shawnee State.
In an ugly first half of offense for both teams, Lindsey Wilson took a 24-22 lead into halftime after looking like it would never find an opening up against a stifling man-to-man defense by the Bears.
At the break, Lindsey Wilson was shooting 45.5 percent from the field, while Shawnee State struggled at 32.1 percent. Both teams just hit one 3-pointer in the half despite tossing up a combined 16 attempts from behind the arc.
Without any opening on the perimeter, the Blue Raiders were forced to bring things inside. Freshman Chase Cox was the first player to find a pair of openings for two quick layups and sophomore Kalen Kimberland and senior Brandon Clemons followed suit with hard drives of their own.
After scoring the first four points of the second half, Shawnee State went on a 10-2 run to take the lead at 32-30 with just over 12 minutes to play in the game. The Bears extended the lead to six, but it was short lived as Lindsey Wilson fought back within two (40-38) on a pair of free throws by junior Dominic Stewart with six minutes to play.
Tied at 44 with a minute to play, senior Cornell Thomas buried a hook shot in the paint to put Lindsey Wilson in front 46-44 before a timeout by the Bears with 44.4 seconds on the clock.
Shawnee State failed to score again the rest of the way as free-throws down the stretch pushed Lindsey Wilson in front by seven for the final margin.
The win was willed out by the Blue Raiders in a matchup of atrocious shooting. Lindsey Wilson shot 35.7 percent for the game and the Bears shot 29.8 percent. The Blue Raiders won the rebound battle 40-31.
Lindsey Wilson returns to action at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, Jan. 15 at Georgetown (Ky.) College.
