Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., Dec. 7)—The McKendree University men's basketball team saw its two-game win streak come to an end Thursday evening with an 80-70 loss at home against Truman State University.
 
The visiting Bulldogs raced to a 19-4 lead in the first 6:31 of play and held off a late burst from the Bearcats to collect the Great Lakes Valley Conference win. McKendree slips to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The Bearcats will return to action Wednesday when Salem International University visits the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.
 
Junior guard Nate Michael scored 12 of his team-leading 18 points in the second half to lead McKendree. Senior guard Justin Blanks helped out with 17 points and seven rebounds, while junior guard Giovanni Offard scored all 12 of his points in the final 20 minutes of action. Offard also finished the night with a team-best four rebounds. Junior guard Malcolm Mabry pulled down a team-high eight rebounds for McKendree.
 
Truman State (4-4, 1-1 GLVC) scored the first seven points of the contest, then later added a 12-2 run to extend its margin to 19-4 with 13:29 left in the first half. Following its second time out of the game, McKendree was able to battle back and pull within 24-15 thanks to a three-pointer from Blanks with 7:20 remaining in the period. The Bulldogs responded by scoring 11 of the next 13 points to stretch its margin to 35-17 just over two minutes later. Truman State connected on 54.5 percent of its field goal attempts in the first half (18-of-33) on its way to a 44-29 advantage at the intermission.
 
McKendree made one final push at the Bulldogs down the stretch, using an 8-2 run to slash the deficit to 75-66 with 3:08 on the clock. But Truman State was able to fend off the late challenge from the Bearcats to even their record at 4-4 while moving to 1-1 in GLVC play.
 
Zach Fischer dropped in a game-high 22 points and added 10 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead Truman State. Brodric Thomas flirted with a double-double before closing the contest with 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to go along with three blocks.