ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – McKendree University saw its two-game win streak halted here Monday evening as the Bearcats second-half rally fell short against Lewis University as the Flyers posted a 70-62 win in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at Neil Carey Arena.
 
With the setback, McKendree snapped its two game win streak and drops its record to 13-9 overall and 9-9 in the GLVC, while Lewis improved to 14-8 and 12-3 in the league and also swept both games this season against the Bearcats as Lewis picked up a 78-62 win in Lebanon, Ill., on Dec, 4.
 
Monday's game was the second of four contests in seven days for the Bearcats to close the 2021-22 regular season as they began the stretch with a 60-56 home win over Maryville and will host Lindenwood on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and travels to UMSL to close the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 3 p.m.
 
In Monday's game, the Bearcats shot 32 percent from the field and 29 percent from the 3-point line in the first half as they trailed 37-28 at the half.
 
Lewis' win was keyed by their 31 trips to the free throw line, but the Flyers made just 19 of those attempts, including going 13-for-21 from the line after halftime and those eight second half misses helped aid in the Bearcats' rally.
 
The Flyers, who have now won five of its last six games and are in first place in the latest GLVC Point Rating System rankings with a PRS of 4.40, pushed their halftime lead to as much as 14 points following a 3-pointer by Beau Frericks with 10:42 left in the game. Frericks' trey gave Lewis a 50-36 lead.
 
That trey from Frericks' seemed to ignite the Bearcats as they responded with a 17-4 run over a span of five-plus minutes to pull within a point at 54-53. The run began and ended with three-pointers from sophomore forward Milos Vicentic (Belgrade, Serbia/OKK Belgrade) as Vicentic scored all of his career high nine points during the run and also added a career-high five rebounds on the night.
 
On Lewis' next trip down the court, Connor Niego made a lay-up and was fouled on the play and hit a free throw with 4:50 left in the contest to give the Flyers a 57-53 lead.
 
Baskets by redshirt junior guard CaRondis Harris-Anderson (Waterloo, Iowa/Waterloo West) and junior guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) brought the Bearcats within two at 59-57 with 3:24 remaining.
 
Bultman, who was named this week's GLVC Player of the Year, would be the lone Bearcat to score in double figures as he tallied 20 points to move within one point (999) of becoming the 52nd Bearcat men's basketball player to score 1,000 career points. The 20 points extended Bultman's double-digit scoring streak to 20 consecutive games and It was also his 20 career 20-plus point game. Bultman also added six rebounds and seven assists.
 
Following Bultman's lay-up that gave him 18 points in the game, the Flyers would use an 8-2 run to extend its lead to 67-59 with 28 seconds remaining, before senior guard Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, Ill./SWIC) drilled a trey with 21 seconds left to bring the Bearcats within 67-62. On the Flyers' subsequent possession, Atakan Sahinkaya was fouled and proceeded to make 1-for-2 free throws with 17 seconds left and after Stephen's next 3-pointer attempt was blocked, Niegro capped the scoring on a dunk with six seconds left.
 
Frericks and Niego combined to score 41 points for the Flyers as Frericks tallied 21 points, while Niego had a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds. Sahibkaya added 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
In the first half, Lewis opened the game by scoring 11 of the first 15 points to take an 11-4 lead just five-plus minutes into the game. The lead, though, was short-lived for Lewis as the Bearcats responded with a 9-1 run to take a 13-12 lead with 10:49 left in the opening half. The run was keyed by five points from Bultman and began with a trey from junior guard Aleksandar Davitkov (Belgrade, Serbia/Partizan).
 
Lewis would answer with a 5-1 run to take a 17-14 lead, before three-pointers from redshirt senior guard Brendon Gooch (Belleville, Ill./SIU-Carbondale) and Stephen to give McKendree a 20-19 lead with 7:46 left in the half.
 
The Flyers would close the first half on a 17-9 run to take a 37-28 lead at the half.
 
For the game, McKendree shot 39 percent from the field and 41 percent from the 3-point line, while Lewis shot 48 percent from the field and 42 percent from the 3-point line.
 
While Lewis struggled at the free throw line, so too did the Bearcats as they were 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) from the line. The game featured a combined 39 fouls.
 
McKendree committed 12 turnovers and had 14 assists, while Lewis had 10 turnovers and 10 assists. McKendree scored 13 points off of Lewis' 10 turnovers.
 
The Flyers blocked six shots and had eight steals, while the Bearcats didn't record a block and had just six steals with three of them from sophomore guard Carson Parker (Nashville, Ill./Nashville).
 
McKendree will to start to a new win streak as they host Lindenwood on Wednesday, Feb. 23 for a 7:30 p.m. contest at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. The game was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but the game was postponed due to a winter storm that hit the Metro East area.