SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The McKendree University men's basketball concluded its two-game road trip to the Show-Me-State here Saturday afternoon dropping a hard-fought 83-76 decision to Drury University in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
Saturday's loss was the third straight this week for the Bearcats as they began the week with an 88-83 double overtime home setback to Southwest Baptist, before falling 75-70 in overtime on Thursday at Missouri S&T.
 
With Saturday's defeat, the Bearcats record falls to 11-8 overall and 7-8 in the league, while Drury improved to 8-12 overall and 5-7 in the league.
 
In Saturday's game, the Bearcats trailed by as much as 15 points with about nine minutes left in the game, before using a 17-3 run over a span of nearly four-plus minutes to pull within 65-64 following a lay-up and free throw to complete a 3-point play from junior guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) with 4:31 left in the game. Bultman's 3-point play capped a 12-0 run by the Bearcats.
 
During the 17-3 run, Bultman scored 10 of his team-high 20 points to get the Bearcats back into the game.
 
Following Bultman's 3-point play, the Panthers, who are coached by Chris Foster, who spent the previous three seasons (2018-21) as McKendree's head coach, responded with a 9-2 run to push its lead back out to 74-66 with 1:16 remaining in the contest. The run was aided by a 7-for-9 effort at the free throw line. In fact, Drury closed the game by making 14 of its final 17 free throws to thwart a Bearcat comeback.
 
With his 20 points, Bultman extended his double figure scoring streak to 17 straight games and has now scored 20 or more points in 10 games this season, including reaching that figure in six of his last eight games. Bultman scored 17 of those points after halftime as he held to just three points in the first half.
 
Along with Bultman's team-high 20 points, sophomore guard Carson Parker (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) added 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while junior guard Aleksandar Davitkov (Belgrade, Serbia/Partizan) tallied 11 points and a career-high four steals.
 
Two other Bearcats – senior forwards Luke Hensler (Okawville, Ill./SWIC) and Aleksa Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Cleveland State) just missed scoing in double figures as Hensler scored nine points and Popovic added eight points off the bench. McKendree's bench outscored Drury's bench, 22-18 for the game.
 
Drury was led offensively by Malek Davis, who scored a game-high 25 points and added seven assists, including scoring 19 of those points in the first half to help the Panthers hold a 43-31 lead at the half.
 
The Panthers scored the first four points of the game, before the Bearcats responded with a 12-5 run to take a 12-9 lead just a little over six minutes into the game. After Drury used a trey from Davis to tie the game at 12, the Bearcats came back with a 12-4 run to push out to a 22-16 lead with 9:03 left in the opening half.
 
From that point, Davis began to take over the game as he would score 11 of his team's next 21 points to give the Panthers a 37-28 lead. The run began with a trey from Davis and was capped by a free throw from Ryce Piper with 2:16 left in the half.
 
Bultman would stop the Panthers' run by hitting 1-of-2 free throws with 2:01 remaining, before a lay-up by Piper and baskets by Davis and Obi Okafor in final 40 seconds of the half gave the Panthers its 12-point halftime lead.
 
In the opening half, Drury shot 55 percent from the field and was 6-for-9 (67 percent) from the 3-point line. Davis and Okafor combined for 31 of Drury's 43 first half points.
 
Along with Davis' game-high 25 points, Okafor added a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, while Myles Samuels and Victor Nwagbarachoa chipped in with 15 and 12 points respectively.
 
After trailing by 12 points at the half, the Bearcats opened the second half on a 12-6 run keyed by five points from Hensler to drop Drury's lead to 47-43 with 14:29 left in the game. The Panthers, though, would respond with a 15-4 run capped by a trey from Riley Naeger to push its lead to 62-47 with 8:54 left in the game. The run also began with a trey from Naeger.
 
For the game, McKendree shot 48 percent from the field, but was just 7-for-24 (29 percent) from the 3-point line. The seven made treys snapped a four-game streak by the Bearcats of hitting double figures in 3-pointers.
 
Meanwhile, Drury finished the game shooting 46 percent from the floor and was 10-for-18 (56 percent) from the 3-point line.
 
McKendree was outrebounded, 35-29, including 12-5 on the offensive glass and the Bearcats committed 12 turnovers that led to 17 points for Drury. Despite only having five offensive boards, the Bearcats held a 13-7 advantage in second chance points.
 
Drury also had 17 assists on 27 made baskets, while McKendree had 11 assists, including six from Bultman.
 
Both teams were strong at the free throw line as Drury was 19-for-23 (82.6 percent), including a 16-for-19 effort at the line in the second half, while McKendree was 19-for-24 (79 percent) at the line, including a 13-for-16 effort from the stripe in the second half.
 
McKendree will look to snap its three-game losing skid this coming Monday, Feb. 14 as they host the University of Indianapolis for a 5:30 p.m. game at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon. The game was originally scheduled for Jan. 13, but was postponed and rescheduled due to health and safety protocols at the time in the UIndy program.