CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Keenon Cole had a double-double 42 points and 11 rebounds to power Lindenwood (7-9, 1-2) to a 74-68 win over Southeast Missouri (6-11, 1-3) Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
 
LU picked up its first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season and dropped SEMO to its third-straight conference loss.
 
SEMO struggled to put points on the board early on. After Adam Larson's free throw gave the Redhawks their sixth tally of the game, SEMO missed seven-straight field goals and went scoreless for 5:25.
 
Evan Eursher's 3-pointer ended the drought with 12:01 remaining. Then, LU had its share of cold shooting misfiring on 9-of-10 field goals leading up to Jaylon McDaniel's layup that tied the game at 11-11 with 8:20 left.
 
The Lions later used a 7-0 run to open a five-point cushion and went up, 28-21, on Cole's layup at the 2:28 mark.
 
Braxton Stacker drove the lane for a dunk and drained a 3-pointer on SEMO's next possession to close LU's lead to 30-29 with less than a minute to play before the Lions scored the final four points to take a five-point advantage at the intermission.
 
Things got out of hand in a hurry for SEMO in the second half. LU opened a double-digit lead by scoring the first seven points.
 
McDaniel, Darius Beane and Cole each scored, and Colin Ruffin added a free throw to extend the Lions' margin to 41-29 only 2:34 into the second stanza.
 
The Lions continued to capitalize on their momentum, outscoring SEMO 19-7 over a period of seven minutes. Beane accounted for eight of those points and Cole finished the stretch with back-to-back baskets widening LU's lead to 53-36 with 13:06 remaining.
 
SEMO trailed by as many as 18 points before cutting LU's lead to single digits several times in the last six minutes of play. Rob Martin's jumper (60-52), Eursher's layup (65-56) and Marqueas Bell's free throw (67-58) following an intentional foul dropped the Lions lead below 10.
 
Martin's two free throws narrowed the score to 67-60 with 1:21 on the clock. Two more free throws by Bell made it a seven-point contest (69-62) again and then Martin buried a 3-pointer to get SEMO within five at 70-65 with 29 seconds. 
 
Larson buried a 3-pointer to trim LU's lead to 72-68 with 3.3 seconds left, but Cole made two more free throws to seal it.
 
LU shot 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the field in its decisive second half and 51 percent (26-of-51) for the game.
 
Josh Earley led SEMO with 16 points, his third-straight double-digit game. Earley shot 5-of-9 from the field and 6-of-9 at the free throw line. He also added a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Martin, Stacker and Eursher contributed 11 points each.
 
Cole was 13-of-23 from the floor and 13-of-16 at the free throw line. His 42 points are the most by any player in the OVC this year.
 
Beane chipped in 20 points for the Lions, as well.
 
SEMO returns to action at Tennessee Tech Saturday.