(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 9) – The McKendree University men's basketball team gave up its second Great Lakes Valley Conference loss of the season to No. 1 Bellarmine, 76-60. The Bearcats are now 7-5 overall on the season and 2-2 in GLVC play.
As a team, McKendree went seven for 10 from behind the three point line in the first half, outshooting the Knights 70 percent to 62.5 percent. The Bearcats also went 13 for 20 in the field goal range to fuel the competition in the first half. There were nine lead changes in the first half alone given the immense competition amongst the Bearcats and the Knights, but Bellarmine ended up taking the lead going into halftime, 39-33.
The Knights proved their No. 1 national ranking status in the second half. As Bellarmine's defense intensified, McKendree's shooting percentages dropped, which helped the Knights maintain the lead throughout the entire second half. Bellarmine was able to remain the only men's DII basketball team undefeated on the 2019-20 season with a 76-60 win against the Bearcats.
Bellarmine proved difficult to defend in the paint scoring 34 of its 76 points from inside the paint while the Bearcats only put up 12 points from inside the paint. The Knights also outscored McKendree in points off of turnovers, 17-11.
Three Bearcats recorded double-digit points for McKendree; junior guard
Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) with 17 points, senior guard
Logan Kohrmann (Bartelso, IL/Breese Central) following closely with 16 points, and senior guard
Jacob Donaldson (Effingham, IL/Effingham) rounding out the efforts with 10 points. Stephen also tallied one rebound, one assist, and one steal for the Bearcats Kohrmann was the rebound leader for the Bearcats seven rebounds and also collected three assists on the night.
As a team, McKendree's bench outscored the Knights' bench, 17-9. The Bearcats also ended the night with a better free throw percentage than Bellarmine. McKendree went 12 for 15 or 80 percent at the free throw line while the Knights only went 20 for 27 or 74.1 percent.
The Bearcats will play host one final time Saturday, Jan. 11 to the University of Indianapolis before taking GLVC competition on the road. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
