HOUGHTON, Mich. – McKendree University men's basketball opened its 2022-23 season here Saturday afternoon with a 100-93 hard-fought setback to Northern Michigan in the opening game of the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover hosted by Michigan Tech and held at SDC Gymnasium.
 
The 93 points are the most scored by the Bearcats in a season opener since tallying 97 points against Robert Morris-Springfield to open the 2016-17 season. Meanwhile, the 100 points allowed by McKendree were the most they allowed in a game since allowing 116 points to Lindenwood in a 116-109 loss to the Lions on Feb. 20, 2021 in St. Charles, Mo. 

"The credit goes to Northern Michigan for a really hard fought win. I'm proud of our group for fighting back despite struggling on the offensive end," McKendree head coach George Suggs said. "It is a good lesson for us how difficult it is to win at this level. Great teams can do it on both ends of the floor and that has to be what we strive for"
 
After trailing by as much as 16 points just five minutes into the second half, the Bearcats used a 27-13 run over a span of eight minutes to pull within 79-77 following two free throws from senior guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville).
 
The Wildcats, though, would respond with an 11-4 run to push out to a 90-81 lead with 2:51 left in the game. The Bearcats would mount one more rally as they scored seven of the next 10 points to cut NMU's lead to 93-88 with 1:17 left.
 
NMU would hold off the Bearcats over the final minute of the game thanks to hitting seven of eight free throws to cap the season opening victory.
 
Bultman was one of two Bearcats to score 20 or more points in the game as he finished with 23 points, including 14 in the first half. He added eight rebounds and seven assists before fouling out with 25 seconds left in the game. In addition to Bultman, junior forward Milos Vicentic (Belgrade, Serbia/OKK Belgrade) led the way for the Bearcats with a career-high 25 points, with 13 of those points coming in the first half.
 
Two other Bearcats finished with 12 points in the game as senior guard Eric Powell II (Lexington, Ky./Asbury University) tallied 12 points, including 10 of them in the second half in his McKendree debut, while sophomore forward Hayden Meakes (Adelaide, Australia/Adams State) also had 12 points off the bench in his McKendree debut.
 
Vicentic scored the first points of the season on a lay-up 19 seconds into the game and that helped the Bearcats jump out to a 13-6 lead just four minutes into the contest. Vicentic and senior guard Aleksandar Davitkov (Belgrade, Serbia/Partizan) combined to score 13 of McKendree's first 16 points.
 
NMU, though, would use 14-9 run to pull within 22-20 with 10:46 left in the opening half. The Bearcats, though, answered with a 6-3 run capped by a trey from Vicentic to push its lead back out to 28-23 with 9:10 left in the first half.
 
The Wildcats, who were tabbed to finish second in the Preseason GLIAC Coaches Poll, responded with a 22-5 run keyed by seven points from Max Bjorklund to push out to a 45-33 lead with 3:21 left in the first half.
 
After McKendree scored five straight to pull within 45-38, the Wildcats would close the first half on a 9-6 run to take a 54-44 halftime lead.
 
Bjorklund, who finished with a game high 38 points, scored 24 of those points in the first half.
 
Both teams shot 54 percent from the field in the opening half as McKendree was 14-for-26 and NMU was 21-for-39 and each team made six treys. McKendree held a 10-6 edge in made free throws in the first 20 minutes.
 
NMU opened the second half on a 12-6 run to push its lead to 66-50, before McKendree began its comeback on that 27-13 run. That run was aided by a combined six points each from Bultman and Meakes.
 
In addition to Bjorklund's 38 points, Dylan Kuehl and Carson Smith added 12 points, while Brian Parzych tallied 11 points.
 
For the game, McKendree shot 53 percent from the field, but was just 10-for-29 (35 percent) from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, NMU shot 54 percent from the field and was 8-for-21 (38 percent) from the 3-point line.
 
The Bearcats were outrebounded, 36-27 and committed 14 turnovers that led to 17 points by the Wildcats. The Wildcats committed nine turnovers in the game.
 
McKendree had 13 assists, while NMU had 12 assists and six steals.
 
The game was dominated by whistles as the two teams combined for 53 fouls and a total of seven players recorded four or more fouls in the game, including both Bultman and Powell fouling out in the contest. With those 53 fouls, the two teams combined to shoot 58 free throws in the contest, including combining for 34 free throws in the second half. For the game, McKendree was 25-for-28 (89 percent) at the line, including Bultman going 11-for-13 and Powell being a perfect 8-for-8, while NMU was 22-for-30 at the line, with Bjorklund going 10-for-11 from the line.
 
McKendree will look to conclude the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover with a win as they conclude play in the event with a 2 p.m. ET game on Sunday, Nov. 13 against Michigan Tech. Michigan Tech fell 71-67 in its season opener on Saturday to Lewis University.