(LEBANON, Ill., March 2)—The McKendree University men's basketball team saw its 2018-19 season come to a close Saturday afternoon with a 102-60 home loss to the University of Southern Indiana.
 
The visiting Screaming Eagles shot 54.4 percent for the game with nearly half of their offense coming from the bench to collect the win. McKendree wraps up its year with an overall record of 9-18 to go with a 5-13 mark in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
Fittingly, all three McKendree seniors dressed for Saturday's contest all scored in double figures to lead the way offensively for the Bearcats. Guards Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) and Giovanni Offard (Freeport, IL/Freeport) shared team-high scoring honors with 13 points, while center Nolan Gerling (Germantown, IL/Mater Dei) chipped in with 10 points. Michael, Offard and Gerling were joined by injured center Lens-Harly Louis (Montreal, Quebec, Canada/Florida Air Academy) and all four were honored in a special ceremony prior to tip-off.
 
Junior guards Logan Kohrmann (Bartelso, IL/Breese Central) and Alijah Thomas (Des Moines, IA/Hoover) finished the contest with identical stat lines of nine points, five rebounds and four assists for McKendree.
 
Southern Indiana (21-7, 13-5 GLVC) scored seven of the first nine points before McKendree battled back and pulled even on a lay-up by Kohrmann with exactly 13 minutes left in the first half. The Screaming Eagles answered with a 12-2 run to take the lead for good at 29-19 with 8:34 remaining in the period. The Bearcats clawed back once again, getting as close as 34-29 at the 5:17 mark thanks to another lay-up from Kohrmann.
 
A trio of three-pointers sparked a 15-2 run late in the half that helped send USI into the locker room with a 51-33 advantage. After shooting 57.1 percent in the first half, the Screaming Eagles slowly increased their lead over the final 20 minutes to grab their third straight win.
 
Nate Hansen came off the bench to lead Southern Indiana with 21 points, while Emmanuel Little contributed 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. In all, five different Screaming Eagles reached double figures in the scoring column.
 
Michael – a fifth-year senior – closed out his McKendree career with 1,528 points. That places him 22^nd on the Bearcats' all-time scoring list. In addition, Michael drained 226 three-pointers, which is good for sixth place on the program's career chart.