(ROMEOVILLE, Ill., Jan. 26)—The McKendree University men's basketball team opened up a two-game northern road trip with a 96-83 loss Thursday evening at Lewis University.
 
Senior guard Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) became the 50^th member of the Bearcats' 1,000-point club during the contest, reaching the milestone on a three-pointer with 12:54 remaining in the first half. Jackson finished the night with 14 points, giving him 1,010 in his four seasons at McKendree.
 
Jackson also becomes the first McKendree player to score all 1,000 of his points since the Bearcats completed their transition to NCAA Division II membership.
 
Sophomore guard Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) paced McKendree with 21 points, while freshman center Nolan Gerling (Germantown, IL/Mater Dei) chipped in with 19 points, hitting 9-of-12 shots against Lewis. Junior guard Justin Blanks (Barberton, OH/Norton) came off the bench to match Jackson with 14 points for the Bearcats. Senior guard Kyle Yates (Bethalto, IL/Civic Memorial) dished out a game-high six assists in the effort for McKendree. Michael and junior center Joel Atabo (Liberty, NC/St. Patrick's) shared team-high rebounding honors with five.
 
McKendree moves to 7-10 overall and 1-8 in GLVC play with Thursday's loss. The Bearcats will visit Somers, Wis., Saturday afternoon to close out its road trip at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
 
In the first half, McKendree edged out to a 5-3 lead before Lewis reeled off 11 consecutive points to grab a 14-5 advantage in the first five minutes of action. The Flyers eventually stretched the advantage to as many as 14 points before the Bearcats closed the opening period with a flourish. Trailing 46-32 with 3:32 left until the half, McKendree started its comeback with a jumper from Jackson. Gerling connected on back-to-back lay-ups sandwiched around a Flyers' field goal to cut the Lewis lead to 48-38.
 
A Blanks three-pointer was followed by two free throws from Yates to slash the deficit to 48-43. Lewis netted its final points of the period before lay-ups from Jackson and Michael capped a 15-4 run to end the half, bringing McKendree within 50-47 at the intermission. Both teams shot extremely well from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play as the Bearcats hit 63 percent of their tries from the floor (17-of-27) while the Flyers checked in at 52.5 percent (21-of-40).
 
Michael drained a three-pointer on the Bearcats' first possession of the second half to knot the contest at 50-50. After the team traded baskets, Michael connected on another long range shot to give McKendree its first lead of the period at 55-54 with 18:44 to play. In fact, Michael and Gerling combined to score six points each at the outset of the second half to push the Bearcats in front.
 
McKendree led by three points on four different occasions in the second half, the last coming at 72-69 on a three-pointer by Jackson with 10:57 on the clock. At that point, Lewis responded with a 9-2 run to take the lead for good, 78-74, with just under eight minutes remaining. Gerling hit a lay-up on the Bearcats' next possession to cut the Lewis lead in half, but it would be the closest McKendree would get the rest of the night.
 
Lewis took control by scoring nine of the next 11 points to stretch its lead back to 87-78. After a three-pointer from senior guard David Franklin (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) at the 4:17 mark to get McKendree back within six points, the Flyers closed the contest with another 9-2 burst to account for the final margin. Lewis hit 60 percent of its attempts from the field in the second half (18-of-30). The Flyers shot 55.7 percent for the game (39-of-70) while McKendree made 53.3 percent of its tries for the evening (32-of-60).
 
Miles Simelton registered a game-high 23 points and added five assists to lead the way for Lewis (12-8, 7-3 GLVC). Delaney Blaylock closed the contest with 21 points.