(ST. LOUIS, Mo., Dec. 1)—For the second time in less than two weeks, senior guard Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) hit a shot in the closing seconds to spur the McKendree University men's basketball team on to victory.
 
Michael's 15-foot jumper with 4.3 seconds remaining lifted the Bearcats to an 84-83 victory Saturday afternoon at Maryville University. The shot capped a comeback that saw McKendree trail by 13 points in the later stages of the first half. With the win, the Bearcats improve to 3-3 on the year and collect their first Great Lakes Valley Conference triumph of the season, going to 1-1 in league play. Michael also hit a 40-foot shot at the buzzer back on Nov. 20 to give McKendree an 80-78 win in its home opener against Union University. 
 
The win also marked the first GLVC victory at McKendree for Bearcats' head coach Chris Foster. The Bearcats will return home Wednesday to host Blackburn College in non-conference play Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
 
Michael led the Bearcats with 24 points – 12 in each half – while junior guard Alijah Thomas (Des Moines, IA/Hoover) poured in a season-high 22 points and added seven rebounds. Junior center Nolan Gerling (Germantown, IL/Mater Dei) helped out with 17 points and matched Thomas with seven rebounds, and senior guard Giovanni Offard (Freeport, IL/Freeport) handed out a game-high five assists for McKendree.
 
A hot-shooting second-half performance helped fuel the comeback by McKendree. The Bearcats hit 60.6 percent of their tries from the field (20-of-33) over the final 20 minutes.
 
After trailing 45-37 at the half, McKendree battled back and pulled within 55-51 with just under 13 minutes to play. The Bearcats eventually tied the contest at 62-62 on a lay-up by Thomas with 8:53 on the clock. Thomas then drilled a three-pointer a minute later to give McKendree its first lead of the half at 65-62. The Bearcats eventually stretched the margin to as many as four points on two other occasions, the last coming at 82-78 following a lay-up and free throw from Offard at the 1:19 mark.
 
Maryville (4-4, 0-2 GLVC) used a run of five straight points from Casey Teson to regain the lead one final time at 83-82 with 15 seconds to play. Following a McKendree timeout, Thomas worked the ball to Michael, who connected on his game-winner with 4.3 seconds to play. The Saints had one final opportunity to win the contest, but a last-second shot was off the mark as the Bearcats walked off with the victory.
 
In the first half, Maryville shot 69.2 percent (18-of-26) in building its eight-point halftime advantage. The teams traded leads several times in the period before the Saints ripped off seven consecutive points to take a 23-17 lead with 9:31 left until halftime. After trading baskets the next few minutes, Maryville scored six of eight points to build its largest lead of the day at 36-23 with 4:42 on the clock. The Bearcats began to chip away at the deficit and pulled within 42-37 following two free throws by Thomas with 1:11 remaining until the break. But a three-pointer from Teson sent the Saints into the locker room with their eight-point cushion.
 
Teson led five Maryville players who scored in double figures with 16 points. Robin Thompson added 13 points and six rebounds. The Saints and Bearcats will meet once more during the regular season on Jan. 10 in Lebanon.