(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 11)—The McKendree University men's basketball team dropped a 79-66 decision Thursday night at home against Maryville University.
The visiting Saints shot 63.6 percent in the first half in building an 18-point lead at the intermission to collect the victory in the first of two meetings this season with the Bearcats. McKendree slips to 10-5 overall and 1-4 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. The Bearcats will look to bounce back into the win column Saturday afternoon with another league contest at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The teams will square off at 3 p.m. inside the Mark Twain Building on the UMSL campus.
Junior forward Malcolm Mabry knocked down a season-high 20 points to lead all scorers Thursday evening. Junior guard Nate Michael and senior guard Justin Blanks each posted 13 points in the contest. Michael also dished out a team-leading five assists. Sophomore center Nolan Gerling registered his second double-double of the 2017-18 season with 20 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Bearcats.
Maryville (12-3, 4-2 GLVC) raced to a 16-4 lead over the first 5:45 of play, hitting seven of its first nine shots from the field. The Saints eventually stretched the lead to as many as 19 points before McKendree looked to rally. The Bearcats chipped away at the deficit, and a lay-up from Mabry with 1:49 left until halftime helped trim the deficit to 43-30. Maryville responded by scoring the final five points of the period to take a 48-30 advantage into the locker room. The Saints connected on 21-of-33 field goal tries over the first 20 minutes.
McKendree continued to battle back against Maryville in the early stages of the second half. The Bearcats scored 11 of the first 15 points of the period to pull within 52-41 with 17:24 remaining. Later in the half, McKendree used an 8-2 burst to slash the Saints' lead to single digits at 58-49 with just over 12 minutes to play.
Following the media timeout with 11:30 left, Maryville scored the next eight points to regain a 66-49 advantage midway through the half. McKendree made one final run at the Saints, getting the deficit back within nine points on two different occasions, the last coming at 73-64 on a three-pointer from Mabry with 1:48 to play.
Nolan Berry posted a double-double to lead Maryville with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Robin Thompson notched his own double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds as Jimmy Barton contributed 17 points and a team-best five assists for the Saints. Maryville held a 44-32 edge in rebounding.
McKendree, which committed a season-low five turnovers in Thursday's contest, also scored 18 points off 13 turnovers by Maryville. The teams will square off again Feb. 17 at Moloney Arena in St. Louis.
