TOWN & COUNTRY, Mo. – McKendree University and Maryville University battled for 40 minutes here Thursday evening as the Saints would outscore the Bearcats 39-29 en route to earning a 60-55 victory in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at Moloney Arena on the Maryville campus.
 
With the five-point loss, McKendree suffered its first loss of the season as their record fell to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the GLVC, while Maryville improved to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the league. The 4-1 start to the season is the best for the Bearcats since they also opened the 2015-16 season with four wins in its first five games.
 
"Really hard loss tonight to a good team. Maryville deserves a ton of credit. We came up short, but I thought we fought the entire game and I cannot be prouder of our effort," McKendree head coach George Suggs said following the game. "We are going to learn a lot from this game and that is our challenge. This one hurts for our guys a lot and it should, but the only thing we can do now is look at where we are struggling and move forward."
 
The struggles on Thursday for the Bearcats came from shooting the basketball as they shot a season low 32 percent (21for-66) from the field and made just seven of its season-high 28 3-point field goal attempts (25 percent), including shooting 31 percent from the field and 20 percent from the 3-point line after halftime to turn a 26-21 halftime lead into a 60-55 loss.
 
While McKendree struggled to shoot the ball on the night, Maryville shot 44 percent from the field and 28 percent from the 3-point line, including shooting 48 percent from the field and 44 percent (4-for-9) from the 3-point line after halftime.
 
Junior guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) led the way offensively for the Bearcats with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds, while junior guard Aleksandar Davitkov (Belgrade, Serbia/Partizan) and redshirt senior guard Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, Ill./SWIC) each had eight points and senior forward Aleksa Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Cleveland State) added seven points and six boards off the bench.
 
Maryville would open the second half on a 17-6 run to turn McKendree's 26-21 halftime lead into a 38-32 deficit just a little over seven minutes into the second half. The Bearcats, tough, would use a trey from Davitkov and a lay-up by Popovic to pull within a point at 28-27 with 11:19 left in the game.
 
The Saints, though, would respond with a 9-0 run to push its lead to 47-37 with 6:01 left in the game. The run began and ended with baskets by Daniel Farris.
 
McKendree wouldn't go away as they used a 10-2 run that was capped by a lay-up and free throw to complete a 3-point play from Popovic.
 
A trey from Ari Jackson, one his four in the second half, pushed the Saints back in front 52-47 with 2:15 remaining. On the ensuing possession by McKendree, Davitkov would drill a trey with 1:41 left in the game to bring the Bearcats back within two at 52-50.
 
The Bearcats would get no closer over the final 30 seconds of the game as Maryville would seal the win by making eight-of-eight free throws and hold off the Bearcats.
 
In the first half, Maryville scored the first four points of the game and led 8-5 when the Bearcats used an 11-2 run capped by a trey from Stephen to push out to a six point lead at 16-10 with 7:11 left in the opening half.
 
The Saints would chip away at the Bearcats lead as they pulled within 23-21 following a lay-up by Farris with 42 seconds left, before the Bearcats capped the half with a trey from Bultman right before the first half buzzer.
 
Cameron Scales led the way for Maryville with 19 points, including scoring 12 of those points in the second half. In addition to Scales, Jackson added 18 points as he scored 14 of those after halftime and Farris tallied nine points for the Saints.
 
While McKendree struggled to shoot the ball in the game, the Bearcats stayed in the game thanks to a 45-32 edge on the boards, including a 17-3 advantage on the offensive boards that led to a 16-4 edge in second chance points for the Bearcats.
 
Sophomore guard Carson Parker (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) led the way on the board as he pulled down a career high 12 boards, but was held scoreless for the first time this season. Parker entered the game as the team's No. 2 scorer on the season as he was averaging 11.5 points per game.
 
Both teams did a good job of taking care of the basketball as they both combined for a total of 19 turnovers on the night with McKendree committed 10 turnovers that led to 13 Maryville points. Maryville had just nine turnovers and blocked a game-high 11 shots, including seven blocks in the first half. Kelvin Swims and Donovan Parker each had three blocks each in the game.
 
Prior to UMSL ending the game making all eight of its eight free throws, they had made just five of its first 12 free throws. McKendree finished the game shooting 6-for-8 from the free throw line.
 
McKendree will look to return to the win column this coming Saturday, Dec. 4 as they host Lewis University for a 3 p.m. GLVC game at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center and will mark the first home GLVC game of the season for the Bearcats. Lewis (1-5 overall, 1-0 GLVC) comes into the game fresh off an 85-71 home win Thursday over the University of Indianapolis in its GLVC opener.