(SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Jan. 15)—The McKendree University men's basketball team snapped a four-game winless streak in a big way with a 74-59 win Monday evening at the University of Illinois Springfield.
The Bearcats limited the host Prairie Stars to just 36.9 percent shooting for the contest and built as much as a 20-point lead in winning its second Great Lakes Valley Conference game of the season. McKendree jumps to 11-6 overall and 2-5 in league play. The Bearcats will be at home Thursday to begin a three-game home stand against Quincy University. Game time for the GLVC Central Division contest is set for 7:30 p.m.
Junior guard Nate Bethel came off the bench to record a double-double with a team-high 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds for McKendree. Sophomore center Nolan Gerling added 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor, while junior guard Giovanni Offard and senior guard Justin Blanks each connected for 10 points. Junior guard Nate Michael chipped in with nine points as junior forward Malcolm Mabry registered eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Bearcats.
In the first half, Illinois Springfield (12-5, 4-3 GLVC) sprinted to an 8-2 lead before McKendree battled back. The Bearcats put together a 12-3 run to grab its first lead of the night at 14-11 with 9:33 left in the opening period. Bethel's first basket of the contest capped the burst for the Bearcats.
A three-pointer from the Prairie Stars on the next possession quickly tied the game before the Bearcats scored the next seven points to fuel a 15-2 run that put the visitors back on top to stay, 29-16, with 1:45 left in the half. Bethel scored the first five points of the run on a mid-range jumper followed by a three-pointer. He also scored the final seven points of the stretch on three consecutive free throws and another three-pointer. UIS managed to post the final five points of the half to pull within 29-21 at the break.
McKendree quickly regained a double-digit lead in the early moments of the second half before Illinois Springfield made one final run at the Bearcats. The Prairie Stars whittled its deficit to four points on two different occasions, the last coming at 44-40 on a pair of free throws from Gilwan Nelson with 12:15 remaining.
Once again, McKendree strung together two key runs to put the game out of reach. First, the Bearcats scored eight of 10 points to push its advantage to 58-46 with just over seven minutes to play. Gerling had the last five points of the run. Later in the period, McKendree used a 12-2 spurt to take its largest lead of the night, 70-50, with 3:28 left.
Eddie Longmeyer was the only UIS player to score in double figures with 16 points. He added a team-best 10 rebounds as well. Gilwan Nelson contributed nine points and a game-high four assists for the Prairie Stars.
McKendree's victory on Monday avenged an 86-72 setback against UIS back on Jan. 6 in Lebanon. It was also the Bearcats' first triumph in its last four outings against the Prairie Stars. McKendree's last win over UIS was an 88-83 overtime victory on Feb. 25, 2016 at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.
