Avila Fares Well against Division I Lindenwood

St. CHARLES, Mo. – Avila men's basketball battled hard in its latest exhibition match against an NCAA squad, ultimately falling 81-64 to the NCAA Division I Lindenwood Lions on Tuesday night in St. Charles.

Avila has played a half dozen of these exhibition contests to this point in the 2023-24 campaign, and this one might have been the Eagles' best performance. The game featured six ties and four lead changes, and the Eagles more than kept pace with the Lions for the entire first half before Lindenwood steadily pulled away. Avila held Lindenwood to just 22% shooting from three-point range (4-of-18) while the Eagles shot a clean 40% (8-of-20).

Lindenwood had a sizable edge in points off turnovers and second-chance points, but the Lions' biggest advantage came at the foul line at home: Lindenwood shot 85% from the line (23-of-27) while the Eagles were only afforded eight trips to the stripe in the entire game.

Still, Avila more than kept pace with their larger-school foe for the entire first half, at the very least. The Eagles never let the Lions get comfortable in the game and Avila trailed only 35-30 with about three minutes left in the half, but that's when Lindenwood finally got on track. The Lions scored nine of the final 12 points of the first half to take an 11-point lead into the break, and the Eagles could not break back in. Lindenwood won the game 81-64.

Lindenwood ultimately played only nine players and all five starters saw heavy minutes – not likely the plan in a game against an NAIA school, but a good result for Avila to build on. Lion standout Keenon Cole led all players with 25 points and nine rebounds, and Darius Beene had 17 and six. Cooper Smith led the Eagles with 10 points in a strong second half, and five other Eagles scored between six and nine, including Matthew Boldt, who finished with eight points, three rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

Avila men's basketball will now have a little time off at the end of the semester before the Eagles return to close out 2023 on Saturday, December 30 with one final exhibition game at local Division II foe Missouri Western. Details on how to watch and follow that game will be posted on our website, avilaathletics.com, when they become available.