(SOMERS, Wis., Jan. 4)—The McKendree University men's basketball team dropped a 75-65 decision Thursday evening at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
 
Senior guard Justin Blanks scored a game-high 25 points as the Bearcats had their season-high win streak ended at five games. McKendree is now 10-3 overall and 1-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. The Bearcats will head home to host the University of Illinois Springfield in another league game Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
 
Junior guard Giovanni Offard chipped in with 15 points and a team-best three assists for McKendree. Junior forward Malcolm Mabry added six points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Bearcats.
 
A 10-0 run midway through the second half proved to be the difference as UW-Parkside built a double-digit lead and held off a late run from McKendree. The host Rangers stretched the margin to as many as 15 points before the Bearcats battled back within seven points in the closing minutes.
 
The teams battled back and forth in the first half in a period that had three ties and five lead changes. Offard sandwiched a pair of lay-ups around a three-pointer from Blanks to spark a 7-0 run that gave McKendree its last lead of the contest at 22-21 with 8:17 left until halftime. UW-Parkside (3-10, 1-2 GLVC) answered by scoring the next 10 points to regain a 31-22 advantage at the 4:46 mark of the opening period. The Bearcats chipped away at the deficit once again and trimmed the margin to 34-30 thanks to a lay-up by junior guard Nate Bethel with 70 seconds remaining in the half. UW-Parkside then scored the final three points of the half from the foul line to take a 37-30 advantage into the locker room.
 
McKendree outscored UW-Parkside 10-4 over the first four minutes of the second half to rally within 41-40 with 16:08 to play. The Rangers never lost the lead and held a 49-44 advantage before embarking on its decisive run. UW-Parkside held the Bearcats without a field goal for more than six minutes while reeling off 10 consecutive points to push its lead to 59-44 with 8:43 on the clock. The 15-point bulge was the largest of the contest for the hosts.
 
The Rangers maintained a double-digit lead before a three-pointer from junior guard Nate Michael followed by a lay-up from Blanks brought McKendree within 69-62 with 1:11 to play. UW-Parkside thwarted the Bearcats' last-minute rally by hitting all six of its free throw tries in the final 52 seconds to preserve the win. In the second half, the Rangers hit 9-of-10 free throw attempts and shot nearly 52 percent from the floor (14-of-27).
 
Adam Bonk led UW-Parkside in the scoring column with 17 points. Ramer Evans added 12 points while Espen Fjaerestad and Goran Zagorac each netted 10 points. Jameel Moore dished out a game-high eight assists for the Rangers, who snapped a three-game losing streak with Thursday's win.