INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The McKendree University men's basketball team appeared headed towards an impressive road win here Tuesday evening as they held a 51-44 lead with seven-plus minutes left in the game against the University of Indianapolis, but the Greyhounds closed the game on a 19-5 run to post a 63-56 comeback victory in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at Nicoson Hall.
 
With the setback, McKendree falls to 5-4 overall and 1-4 in the GLVC, while UIndy extends its win streak to five straight games and improved its record to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the league.
 
Trailing 30-26 at the half, McKendree opened the second half on a 20-6 run to push out to a 46-36 lead following a lay-up from senior redshirt senior guard Brendon Gooch (Belleville, Ill./SIU-Carbondale) with 12:44 left in the game. The run began with back-to-back lay-ups from junior guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) and was aided by back-to-back treys within 49 seconds of each other from redshirt senior guard Oliver Stephen (Edwardsvlle, Ill./SWIC).
 
The Greyhounds, though, would respond with a 6-0 run capped by a dunk from Cory Miller Jr. with 10:52 remaining in the game to draw UIndy within four points at 46-42.
 
Three free throws by Gooch and a lay-up by Bultman with 8:46 left in the game pushed the Bearcats lead to 51-44.
 
From that point, UIndy would score seven consecutive points to push within 51-50, including capping the run with two free throws from Jesse Bingham with 5:22 left in the game.
 
While UIndy scored seven straight points, the Bearcats would be held scoreless for nearly four-and-half minutes until Bultman scored on a driving lay-up with 4:19 left in the game and on the play, he was fouled and added a free throw to complete a 3-point play and give the Bearcats a 54-50 lead.
 
That play seemed to ignite the 'Hounds as they responded by scoring 12 consecutive points to push in front 62-54, including taking the lead back on a lay-up by Josiah Tynes with 3:36 left. Tynes' lay-up made the score 55-54 in favor of UIndy.
 
On McKendree's next trip down court following Tynes' lay-up, sophomore guard Carson Parker (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) turned the ball over and on the ensuing possession following a defensive rebound by Stephen, Bultman would miss a driving lay-up with 2:44 left.
 
UIndy would take advantage of Bultman's miss on its next possession as Miller missed a shot, but he came away with the offensive board and scored on a lay-up to push UIndy's lead to 57-54 with 1:52 remaining. Tynes would then add a trey with 1:07 left and Miller would connect on two free throws with 49 seconds left to give the Greyhounds its 62-54 advantage.
 
Bultman, who finished with a team-high 13 points, including scoring 11 of them after halftime, stopped the UIndy scoring run on a lay-up with 38 seconds left. But that would be as close as the Bearcats would get as Miller capped with scoring by making 1-of-2 free throws with 16 seconds remaining.
 
With his 13 points, Bultman has now scored in double figures in seven consecutive games this season and 34 times in his McKendree career and pushed his career scoring total to 722 points.
 
In addition to Bultman, Gooch added 11 points, Stephen chipped in with nine points and senior forward Aleksa Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Cleveland State) tallied seven points off the bench as McKendree's bench outscored UIndy's, 20-6.
 
The Bearcats jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the opening 90 seconds, but UIndy would respond with a 9-2 run to take an 11-9 lead just four minutes into the contest.
 
McKendree, though, would score four straight points to retake the lead at 13-11 following a lay-up by Gooch with 12:56 left in the first half. The 'Hounds would answer back with a 7-0 run capped by a basket from Cory Miller, Jr., with 10:02 left in the half to give UIndy an 18-13 lead.
 
Once again, McKendree answered back with a 6-0 run capped by back-to-back baskets from Popovic to take a 19-18 lead with 7:22 left in the opening half. UIndy would close the half outscoring the Bearcats, 12-7 to take a 30-26 lead at the half.
 
Miller Jr. paced Indianapolis with a game-high 23 points, while Bingham added 14 points and Kendrick Tchoua finished with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
One of the biggest differences in Tuesday's game was on the offensive glass as McKendree was held without an offensive board, while UIndy had eight offensive boards that led to a 6-0 edge in second chance points.
 
For the game, the Bearcats shot 42 percent from the field and 29 percent (7-for-24) from the 3-point line, while UIndy shot 44 percent from the field and 27 percent (4-for-15) from long distance.
 
The Greyhounds also held a 39-25 advantage on the boards as Bultman (6 boards) and Stephen (5 boards) combined for 11 rebounds for the Bearcats and UIndy also blocked five shots.
 
McKendree forced UIndy to turn the ball over 13 times, while the Bearcats finished with 12 turnovers and the Bearcats dished out 16 assists, including a career-high six from Parker. UIndy finished with 11 assists.
 
McKendree will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 8 as they host 16th-ranked Truman State for a 3 p.m. GLVC contest on Alumni Day at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Ill.