(QUINCY, Ill., Feb. 24)—Junior guard Nate Michael broke a 62-year old McKendree University men's basketball record by scoring 51 points in the Bearcats' 127-120 overtime loss Saturday afternoon in the season finale at Quincy University.
 
Michael went 15-of-24 from the field, including six three-point field goals, and made 15-of-17 attempts from the free throw line to surpass the old mark of 47 points set by Rich Herrin against Blackburn College back in the 1955-56 season. Michael tied Herrin's mark in dramatic fashion, hitting a game-tying 12-foot jumper with just two seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 109-109 and force overtime. He then became the Bearcats' single-game scoring leader by hitting a pair of foul shots with 2:18 left in the extra period.
 
Senior guard Justin Blanks closed out his career at McKendree with 29 points, six rebounds and three assists. Blanks proved to be a scoring machine in his two seasons with the Bearcats, closing with 983 career points. The other senior on the McKendree roster, guard Gianni Otto, had seven points and a team-leading six assists against the Hawks.
 
Junior forward Malcolm Mabry and sophomore center Nolan Gerling each finished with a double-double against Quincy. Mabry posted 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Gerling posted 12 points and 11 rebounds.
 
After building a 51-47 lead at the half, McKendree stretched its lead to double digits and took its largest lead of the contest, 96-81, with just under eight minutes left in regulation. Quincy did not mount its comeback bid until the final four minutes, holding the Bearcats off the scoreboard while reeling off 15 consecutive points, capped by two free throws from Ryan Briscoe with 32 seconds on the clock, to grab a 109-107 lead.
 
McKendree was able to get the ball to Michael on the final possession of regulation, where he drove just inside the free throw line and nailed the jumper to tie the game at 109-109 and equal Herrin's single-game scoring mark in the process. Michael netted 31 of his career-high 51 points in the second half against Quincy. His previous career high came back on Feb. 6, 2016 in a 92-84 win at Maryville University.
 
Quincy controlled the early portion of the overtime period, scoring nine of the first 10 points in the frame to build a 118-110 advantage with 2:58 remaining. Mabry answered with a jumper and Otto produced a steal and lay-up just moments later to bring McKendree back within 118-114. The Bearcats would not get any closer Briscoe drained a three-pointer on the Hawks' next possession to push the Hawks' lead out to seven points.
 
Michael capped the Bearcats' scoring on the day when he hit a jumper with 22 seconds on the clock to become the first player in McKendree men's basketball history to record at least 50 points in a contest.
 
Both teams shot well from the field, especially from halftime on. McKendree made 60.6 percent of its field goal attempts in the second half (20-of-33) and finished the game at 52.5 percent (42-of-80). Quincy hit 53.7 percent of its tries from the floor (22-of-41) and connected for a 54.2 percent clip on the day (45-of-83). There were a total of nine ties and 19 lead changes in Saturday's match-up.
 
Demetrius Houston led Quincy (8-19, 4-14 GLVC) with 34 points, while Marcus Hinton registered 22 points. Briscoe finished with 20 points and a game-high seven assists for the Hawks as Bobby Frasco contributed 15 points, seven rebounds and a game-high four blocked shots.

McKendree wraps up its season with an overall record of 12-16 along with a 3-15 mark in GLVC play.