LEBANON, Ill. - Playing in front of fans inside the Harry M. Statham Sports Center for the first time since March 3, 2020, the McKendree University men's basketball team jumped out to a 21-4 lead just 10 minutes into the game en route to cruising to a 75-53 non-conference victory Thursday evening over Harris-Stowe State University. 

The game was the first at home for the Bearcats in front of fans since its GLVC Tournament game on March 3, 2020 against Lewis University. During the 2020-21 season, the Bearcats played in front of no fans due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

"It was great to have everyone back. Playing in empty gyms is not fun at all, so having a crowd there that gets excited when you're hitting big shots and when you playing well. I know the guys were excited and think you saw that in the way we played early," McKendree head coach George Suggs said following the game. 

With Thursday's win, the Bearcats improved to 3-0 on the season and the 3-0 start is the first for McKendree since the 2017-18 team opened the season winning its first three games and five of its first six games overall. Harris-Stowe, who was playing the game as an exhibition contest, is 0-5 on the season. 

"I thought we played well and did what you look for. Anytime you shoot over 50 from the field and over 40 from three, you're going to have a good day," said Suggs, who is now 3-0 as McKendree's head coach. "I think there is a lot we can get better at, which is the thing that makes me feel good. I thought we all kind of came out of that game, feeling like we didn't play great and then you look at the stats, you realize you did and I think that speaks to the high expectations the guys have for themselves." 

For the game, the Bearcats shot 50 percent or better from the field in both halves as they finished the game shooting 51.8 percent from the field, 47 percent (8-for-17) from the 3-point line and 81.8 percent (9-for-11) from the free throw line. 

The strong opening first half run was keyed by a combined 10 points from junior guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) and sophomore guard Carson Parker (Nashville, Ill./Nashville). In fact. Parker and Bultman scored a combined first half points as Parker finished the game with a career and game-high 17 points, while Bultman added 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in the win. 

Parker and Bultman were two of the three Bearcats to score in double figures on the night as redshirt junior guard CaRondis Harris-Anderson (Waterloo, Iowa/Waterloo West) added 13 points, including nine of those points in the first half. 

Following the Bearcats run, the Hornets, who are member of the NAIA's American Midwest Conference, used a 5-0 run to drop McKendree's lead to 21-9 with 7:09 left in the opening half. 

The Bearcats lead would respond with an 11-5 run to push its lead to 32-14 following two free throws by Harris-Anderson with 3:16 left in the first half. The Hornets would then use a 7-3 run to pull within 35-21 before senior forward Aleksa Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Cleveland State) and junior guard Aleksandar Davitkov (Belgrade, Serbia/Partizan) hit back-to-back three-pointers over the final 35 seconds of the half to give the Bearcats a 41-22 lead at the half. 

McKendree would eventually push its lead to as much as 31 points following a lay-up and free throw by Bultman to cap a three-point play with 11:25 left in the game. Bultman's three-point play gave the Bearcat s a 58-27 lead. 

Harris-Stowe would score seven of the next 10 points to cut McKendree's lead to 61-34, before the Bearcats used an 8-4 run to push its lead back out to a 69-38 advantage with 4:52 remaining following a basket by Parker. 

The Hornets, though, would close out the game by outscoring the Bearcats, 15-6, to push the final margin to 22 points. 

Riley Barnes led HSSU with 16 points, while Antwan Campbell added 14 points and Jamarr Joseph tallied 10 points and eight rebounds in the game. 
 
While McKendree shot 51.8 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from the 3-point line, Harris-Stowe would be held to 36 percent shooting from the field and 27 percent shooting from the 3-point line. 

The Bearcats held a 35-26 edge on the boards as along with Bultman's seven rebounds, Parker also had a career-high seven boards. 

McKendree, who is now 19-0 all-time against Harris-Stowe, also committed just 12 turnovers and both teams blocked three shots with senior forward Luke Hensler (Okawville, Ill./SWIC) blocking a career-high three shots. HSSU had 14 turnovers that led to 19 points for the Bearcats.

The Bearcats will now take 11 days off before opening Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Monday, Nov. 29 with a 7:30 p.m. game at the University of Illinois-Springfield. 

"We have kind of started to find an identity as a team and we have a lot of guys that are capable shooters that can knock down shots and a lot of guys that can post up and I think we have a lot of guys that can put the ball on the floor and we're a really versatile team and each game we're going to look a little different. I thought today offensively we looked different than the previous two games and even those two games last weekend we ran different offensive schemes and I think that speaks to our ability at all five spots to do a little bit of everything," said Suggs when asked what he has learned about his team so far this season.