SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – McKendree University men's basketball opened the Great Lakes Valley Conference portion of its 2021-22 schedule here Monday evening by surviving a second-half rally by the University of Illinois-Springfield en route to posting a 51-47 win over the Prairie Stars at the TRAC on the UIS campus.
 
With the win, the Bearcats improved to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the GLVC, while UIS fell to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the league. The 4-0 start for the Bearcats is its first since the 2015-16 team also opened the season 4-0.
 
The Bearcats, who never trailed in the game, sprinted out to a 22-7 lead just 13-plus minutes into the game and led 27-19 at the half, before the Prairie Stars, who have now lost two straight games to the Bearcats, outscored McKendree, 28-24, to cut the final margin to four points.
 
"Tonight was a great example of doing what it takes to win on the road in this conference. I give a ton of credit to them (UIS) for making us play in a way that we weren't comfortable with," McKendree head coach George Suggs said following his team's win. "As they always do, games reveal where you need to improve. We struggled with some execution offensively, but were able to rely on our defense to get it done down the stretch."
 
The Bearcats defense proved to the difference in Monday's game as McKendree held the Prairie Stars to 29 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent shooting from the 3-point line and held UIS to just four points over the final four minutes of the game.
 
While UIS shot under 30 percent from the field and from the 3-point line in the game, McKendree finished the game shooting a season low 39 percent from the field and a season low 24 percent from long distance.
 
Junior guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) led the way offensively for McKendree with 12 points and six rebounds while sophomore guard Carson Parker (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) and redshirt senior guard Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, Ill./SWIC) each tallied 10 points in the win.
 
Bultman scored six of his 12 points in the opening three-plus minutes to help McKendree jump out to an 8-0 lead. The Bearcats lead would eventually push out to nine points at 14-5 following a lay-up by Bultman. Bultman scored 10 of McKendree's first 14 points.
 
After James Kelley hit two free throws with 9:45 left in the first half to cut McKendree's lead to 14-7, the Bearcats responded with an 8-0 run to push out to a 22-7 lead with 6:39 left in the opening half. The run began with a lay-up by senior forward Aleksa Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Cleveland State University) and was capped by a basket by Bultman.
 
The Prairie Stars, though, wouldn't go away as they answered with a 12-3 run over the next five-plus minutes to cut the Bearcats lead to 25-19. Stephen would cap the scoring in the first half on a basket in the paint with 42 seconds left to give the Bearcats its 27-19 halftime lead.
 
After shooting 19 percent from the field in the first half and scoring just 19 points, UIS would shot 38 percent from the field in the second half, while McKendree would shot 32 percent from the floor after halftime.
 
McKendree lead grew to as much as 15 points at 37-22 following a 3-pointer by senior forward Luke Hensler (Okawville, Ill./SWIC) with 14:38 left in the game. Hensler's trey capped a 10-3 run by the Bearcats to open the second half.
 
Hensler's trey would light a fire under the Prairie Stars as they responded with a 13-2 run capped by 3-pointer from Chase Robinson to drop McKendree's lead to 39-35 with 9:45 left in the game.
 
Another trey by Hensler would start a 6-2 run for the Bearcats to push its lead out to 45-37 with 7:20 left in the game. But, once again, UIS answered right back with a 6-0 run to pull within 45-42 with 4:16 left in the game.
 
After a basket by junior guard Aleksandar Davitkov (Belgrade, Serbia/Partizan) gave the Bearcats a 47-43 lead with 3:56 left, Evan Altman would bring UIS back within two following his two free throws with 3:03 remaining.
 
Parker would once again give the Bearcats a four point lead at 49-45 following a lay-up with 1:25 left in the contest. Robinson would bring UIS within two points at 49-47 following his lay-up with 34 seconds remaining.
 
Stephen would cap the scoring by hitting two free throws with 23 seconds left and then on the ensuing possession by UIS, Trey Marble would turn the ball over with 16 seconds. Bultman would miss a front-end of a 1-and-1 free throw with 12 seconds left and his rebound on a missed 3-pointer by Jesus Castillo with four seconds left sealed the Bearcats win.
 
Jack Weber led the way for UIS with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Robinson added nine points on 4-for-18 shooting from the field and Altman finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
 
McKendree would finish the game with a 42-34 edge on the boards as Parker pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, while Popovic had a career high nine boards in the game.
 
The Bearcats lost the turnover battle (13-7), but they recorded season high five blocks with Hensler and Parker each recording two blocks on the night.
 
McKendree will look to start the season 5-0 this coming Thursday, Dec. 2 as they play a 7:30 p.m. game in Town & Country, Mo., against Maryville University (6-1, 1-0 GLVC), who opened league play with a 90-84 overtime win Monday at Lindenwood.