(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 13) – The McKendree University men's basketball team dropped a Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) contest to No. 20 Missouri-St. Louis 68-65 Thursday night. The Bearcats are now 11-12 overall on the season and 6-9 in conference competition.
Both teams struggled to get points on the board in the first half. UMSL shot just 41.38 percent from field goal range and 14.29 percent from the three-point line while McKendree shot 26.67 percent from field goal position and 22.22 percent from behind the three-point line. The Tritons were able to take a 29-21 lead heading into halftime.
The Bearcats were able to outscore UMSL in the second half and nearly doubled their shooting percentage. McKendree placed immense pressure on the nationally ranked Titons but weren't able to fully overpower them, falling 68-65 in a game that remained competitive till the final buzzer.
Freshman forward
Jakobie Robinson (Indianapolis, IN/Warren Central) was the comeback leader for the Bearcats. He tallied 17 points, a new career best for the freshman, to lead the offensive efforts alongside senior guard
Logan Kohrmann (Bartelso, IL/Breese Central) who collected 19 points. Robinson also led the rebounding efforts and recorded the most steals for McKendree with eight rebounds and four steals.
Sophomore forward
Aleksa Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia/BC Partizan Belgrade) and freshman guard
Bryson Bultman (Nashville, IL/Nashville) were also key players for the Bearcats. Popovic tallied nine points, three rebounds, and two steals. Bultman also earned nine points for McKendree as well as six rebounds and one block.
As a team, the Bearcats earned more points off of Triton turnovers than they allowed. McKendree collected 17 of its 65 points off of UMSL turnovers while only allowing the Tritons to score eight points from Bearcats turnovers. In the entire game, McKendree only turned the ball over nine times while the Tritons allowed 14 turnovers.
The Bearcats will continue conference play with a home game against Lindenwood University on Saturday, February 15. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
