HOUGHTON, Mich. – The McKendree University men's basketball team concluded play here Sunday afternoon on the final day of the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover with a 77-67 setback against Michigan Tech at the SDC Gymnasium on the Michigan Tech campus.
 
With the setback, McKendree falls to 0-2 on the season and its marks the first time since the 2018-19 season that McKendree opened the season with back-to-back setbacks. Michigan Tech improves to 1-1 on the year.
 
Senior guard Eric Powell II (Lexington, Ky./Asbury University) led two Bearcats in scoring in double figures with a team-high 22 points against the Huskies.
 
In addition to Powell, senior guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) pushed over 1,100 career points as he tallied 16 points and tied for the team-lead in rebounds with eight and added four assists.
 
With his 16 points, Bultman pushed his career scoring total of 1,111 points, which is 41st of the school's all-time scoring chart. Bultman is one of 42 players in school history to score 1,100 or more career points.
 
McKendree trailed by as many as 10 points at 27-17 with about seven-and-half minutes left in the first half, before the Bearcats closed the opening half on a 17-11 run to cut Tech's halftime lead to 38-34. Bultman and Powell scored 15 of those 17 points during the run and freshman guard Malcolm Davis (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias Catholic) capped the run with two free throws with 1:26 remaining.
 
The Bearcats offense struggled shooting the ball in the second half as after shooting 46 percent from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point line, they shot just 34 percent from the field and 27 percent (4-for-15) from the 3-point line as Tech outscored the Bearcats, 39-33, after halftime.
 
McKendree opened the second half on 7-3 run to tie the game at 41-all following a lay-up from fifth-year senior forward Luke Hensler (Okawville, Ill./SWIC) with 14:39 left in the game.
 
The Huskies, though, would respond with a 22-10 run over the next nine-plus minutes to push out to its largest lead of the game at 63-51.
 
Following that run, the Bearcats would answer back with a 13-6 run to cut Tech's lead to 69-64 with 1:32 remaining. The run began with two Bultman free throws and was capped by a three-pointer from Powell and a free throw from sophomore forward Caleb Zurliene (Aviston, Ill./Purdue Northwest).
 
That would be as close as the Bearcats would get as the Huskies used six free throws and a dunk from Dan Gherezgher to hold off the Bearcats over the final 90 seconds and earn its first win of the young season.
 
Gherezgher led five Tech players in double figures with 27, while Brad Simonsen added 12 points and seven rebounds. Marcus Tomashek and Adam Hobson each scored 11 points and Eric Curl finished with 10 points.
 
For the game, McKendree shot 38.9 percent from the field and was just 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) from the 3-point line. Tech finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field and 43 percent (9-for-21) from the 3-point line.
 
Tech also held a 38-34 edge on the boards as along with Bultman, Hensler also had eight boards for the Bearcats. Peter Calcaterra pulled down nine boards off the bench for Tech.
 
McKendree won the block shot battle, 6-3, including Zurliene finishing with four blocks.
 
Tech won the turnover battle, 14-12 and the Huskies bench scored 45 points to McKendree's bench tallying just 11 points with Zurliene scoring six of those points.
 
Perhaps the biggest difference in the game came at the free throw line as the Bearcats made just 17 of their 27 free throws as they shot 63 percent from the line, including a 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) mark in the second half. Tech was 16-for-19 (84.2 percent) from the line, including going 12-for-15 (80 percent) from the line after halftime.
 
The Bearcats will look to get on track this coming Friday, Nov. 18 as McKendree opens the home portion of its 2022-23 schedule with a 7:30 p.m. game against Culver-Stockton at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Ill.