(ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Dec. 18) – The McKendree University men's basketball drops their first contest against the Flyers, 78-63, Friday night.

McKendree felt comfortable from the three-point line, hitting back-to-back shots from Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville), followed Jacob Donaldson (Effingham, IL/Effingham) and Brendon Gooch (Belleville, IL/Althoff ) to keep their team within a basket to the Flyers. Their offense had to come up with new routes to get around the heavy defense when driving to the paint. They found themselves in a 12-point deficit before Bryson Bultman (Nashville, IL/Nashville) was able to move past and try to jumpstart the scoring opportunities. The Bearcats chipped away at their deficit, down to nine as they headed into halftime.

Jacob Donaldson (Effingham, IL/Effingham) would come off the bench and fall in line with the three-point groove that the Bearcats established from the start of the game. His shot would cut the Flyers' lead down to five with 11:43 left in the game. Another look from beyond by Gooch would put his team within two, followed by jumper from Stephen to tie it up with eight minutes left.

Chris Foster has four of his players finish in double figures. Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) recorded 15 points and went 43.9 percent in three-point shots, with an additional six rebounds. Bryson Bultman (Nashville, IL/Nashville) added 13 points with a 55.6 shooting percentage. Both Brendon Gooch (Belleville, IL/Althoff ) and Jacob Donaldson (Effingham, IL/Effingham) added 10 points apiece.

Aggressive defense early on by the Flyers and would get on the board after nearly three minutes of a scoreless start. The Flyers put up a triple-team defense in the lane to prohibit the Bearcats from scoring inside the paint, and head into halftime with a nine-point lead, 37-28. Perfect set ups and charging to the basket was not enough for the Flyers to keep their lead. They saw it diminish with under eight minutes left in the game, and fight with one-basket lead. The Flyers climbed back to a comfortable 12-point lead with 75 second left in the game. The Flyer's biggest lead was at 15 points in the second half to secure the win.

Lewis had three players in double-figures, two of them scoring 20 or more points. Artese Stapleton recorded 22 points and five rebounds on the night, along with an 80.0 percent shooting percentage form the free throw line. Trevian Bell was right behind with 21 points with a 72.7 shooting percentage. Bruno Williams had 18 points, going sinking 8-of-12 attempts.

McKendree will stay in Romeoville for one more contest against Lewis this weekend. The Bearcats will tip-off against the Flyers in the Neil Carey Arena on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 3:00 PM.