(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 23)—The McKendree University men's basketball team shot 57.1 percent from field on its way to a 105-61 victory at home Saturday afternoon against Principia College.
Seven different Bearcats scored in double figures as McKendree hit the century mark for the first time in 2019-20. The Bearcats have won three of four contests to improve to 3-2 on the season. McKendree will now have 10 days off before opening Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at home against the University of Southern Indiana. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
Senior guard
Nate Bethel (Nassau, Bahamas/St. Louis Christian Academy) – playing in his first game of the season – led the balanced attack for McKendree with 18 points, including 12 in the second half. Junior guard
Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) chipped in with 17 points that included a 5-of-8 performance from three-point range. Junior guard
Carrington Bass (Floosmoor, IL/Crete-Monee) came off the bench to post a season-best 16 points.
Senior guard
Logan Kohrmann (Bartelso, IL/Breese Central) and freshman guard
Bryson Bultman (Nashville, IL/Nashville) each connected for 12 points, while sophomore forward
Aleksa Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia/BC Partizan Belgrade) and freshman forward
Jakobie Robinson (Indianapolis, IN/Warren Central) dropped in 10 points apiece to round out the list of double-digit scorers for the Bearcats. Bultman added game-high totals of seven rebounds and seven assists in Saturday's win as Bethel helped out with three blocks shots and three steals.
For the game, McKendree hit 40-of-70 shots from the floor and went 12-of-28 from beyond the arc. The Bearcats have now made at least 10 three-point field goals in each of their last three outings. McKendree's bench also figured prominently against Principia, outscoring the Panthers' reserves by a 44-7 margin.
Principia led in the opening moments before McKendree started to heat up. The Bearcats broke open a 14-14 tie by going on a 22-5 run to open a 36-19 advantage with just under seven minutes left in the first half. Stephen hit back-to-back threes to begin the spurt as six different players scored during the seven-minute burst. McKendree continued to increase its lead over the remainder of the half and took a 52-27 cushion into the locker room. The Bearcats shot 61.3 percent in the first 20 minutes of action (19-of-31).
McKendree carried its hot shooting hand into the second half, hitting 53.8 percent of its attempts from the floor (21-of-39) over the last 20 minutes. The Bearcats pulled away over the final 20 minutes, taking their largest lead of the contest with its final tally of the afternoon on a free throw from Bethel with just under a minute remaining.
Payton Sellers led Principia with 18 pionts, while A.J. Byrd chipped in with 16 points and Clark Davidson added 13 points. Byrd, Davidson and Trevaughn Goodman all pulled down six rebounds to pace the Panthers.
