(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 10)—The McKendree University men's basketball team turned in a stellar defensive effort on its way to a 69-46 victory Sunday afternoon at home over Northern Michigan University in the final game of the GLVC/GLIAC Challenge played at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.
 
The Bearcats limited the Wildcats to just 30.9 percent shooting for the contest (17-of-55), including just 27.6 percent in the final 20 minutes to pull away for the victory. McKendree is now 1-1 on the season and will continue its six-game home stand Saturday afternoon with a non-conference battle against East Central University. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
Senior guard Logan Kohrmann (Bartelso, IL/Breese Central) led the way for McKendree with 17 points to go along with six rebounds and a game-high three steals. Sophomore forward Aleksa Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia/BC Partizan Belgrade) contributed 15 points, while junior guard Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) notched 11 points and four rebounds. Freshman guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, IL/Nashville) led all players with nine rebounds for the Bearcats.
 
McKendree led wire-to-wire against Northern Michigan, scoring the first five points of the contest on its way to an opening 9-3 run. The Wildcats got within a point at 9-8 before putting together a 9-2 run to stretch the margin to 18-10 with 6:11 left in the half.
 
The Bearcats took a 31-22 lead at the intermission before taking control in the early stages of the second half. After Northern Michigan buried a three-pointer moments into the period to trim the deficit within six, McKendree ripped off a 17-2 run to build a 48-27 cushion with just over nine minutes to play. Popovic drilled back-to-back three-pointers to open the decisive run before finishing it with a jumper in the paint. Defensively, the Bearcats held the Wildcats to just 1-of-13 shooting during that span while forcing five turnovers.
 
McKendree slowly increased its lead from there, using a three-pointer from Kohrmann with 2:36 on the clock to take its largest lead of the day at 67-39.
 
Sam Taylor came off the bench to lead Northern Michigan (1-1) with 11 points. Alec Fruin added nine points while Dolapo Olayinka pulled down a team-best six rebounds for the Wildcats.