LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University and Southwest Baptist went toe-to-toe here Monday for two overtimes at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in the "Battle of the Bearcats", before the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist ultimately prevailed 88-83 in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
 
The double overtime game for McKendree was the first since suffering a 116-109 loss last season on Feb. 20, 2021, at Lindenwood University.
 
With the Monday's setback, McKendree fell to 11-6 overall and 7-6 in the GLVC, while Southwest Baptist won its fourth straight game and improved its record to 16-4 overall and 10-3 in the league.
 
"That was a really high-level basketball game between two great teams today," said McKendree head coach George Suggs following just his team's third loss at home on the season. "I couldn't be prouder of our effort today. It's frustrating to come up short, but there will be so many opportunities to learn from this game."
 
SBU would send the game into overtime following a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left in regulation from Quinn Nelson. Nelson's trey came 25 seconds after McKendree had pushed its lead to 70-67 following a lay-up by junior guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville).
 
In the first overtime, the teams would trade baskets until redshirt senior guard Brendon Gooch (Belleville, Ill./SIU-Carbondale) scored on a driving lay-up with 42 seconds left to give McKendree a 78-76 lead. On the ensuing possession by SBU, Nelson would convert on a lay-up with 30 seconds left to tie the game. Gooch's game-winning shot with just about a second left would fall shot to force a second overtime period.
 
Meanwhile, in the second overtime period, Bultman gave McKendree an 80-78 lead just 21 seconds into the period. Nico Aguirre would drill on trey on SBU's next trip down the court to give SBU an 81-80 lead with 4:10 left in the game.
 
SBU would push its lead to 84-80 following a trey from Tyler Williams with 3:33 left in the second overtime period. Senior forward Aleksa Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Cleveland State) brought the home team Bearcats within two at 84-82 following his dunk with 3:03 remaining.
 
Mitch Ganote made 86-82 in favor of SBU following his lay-up with 1:42 left, but Gooch would make 1-of-2 free throws with 42 seconds left to pull McKendree within three at 86-83. SBU, though, would seal the win with two free throws with nine seconds left from Ganote.
 
Bultman led the way offensively for McKendree with 25 points to extend his double figure scoring streak to 15 consecutive games and he has now tallied 20 or more points in nine games this season and pushed his career scoring total to 904 points to pull within 96 points of joining the 1,000-Point Club.
 
In addition to Bultman, Gooch added 17 points, while Davitkov tallied 13 points and six rebounds and Popovic chipped in with 12 points and six boards off the bench.
 
Meanwhile, Nelson paced SBU with a game high 26 points, including going 5-for-12 from the 3-point line as SBU hit 12 treys for the game.  Along with Nelson, Ganote added 17 points, including 15 points in the second half and overtime, while RJ Crawford tallied 15 points and seven rebounds.
 
SBU would outshoot McKendree, 55 percent to 49 percent from the field, while also making 52 percent of its treys, while McKendree was 10-for-25 (40 percent) from the 3-point line.
 
SBU would shoot 65 percent from the field and hit five treys as they connected on 63 percent of its 3-pointers to hold a 35-31 lead at the half. Nelson and Crawford combined for 17 of those points.
 
The Bearcats of SBU would open the second half by scoring six of the first nine points of the period to push its halftime lead to 41-34 with 16:10 left in regulation.
 
McKendree would respond with a 14-7 run keyed by eight points from Davitkov to take a 48-44 lead with 11:48 remaining in regulation. Nelson would score seven straight points to give SBU a 51-48 lead and then two more baskets from Juan Morales gave SBU a 55-48 lead with 8:30 left in the regulation.
 
Following SBU's run, McKendree would answer with a 13-2 run to take a 61-57 lead with 4:16 remaining. The run began with five straight points from Bultman and was capped by two Bultman free throws.
 
SBU made another run as they scored six of the next eight points to tie the game with 63 with 2:42 left in regulation. About 22 seconds later, redshirt senior guard Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, Ill./SWIC) would drill two free throws following a technical called on SBU head coach Clark Sheehy. After Stephen's two free throws, Ganote would make two free throws of his own with 2:09 left to retie the game at 65.
 
On the next possession, Davitkov drilled a trey to give McKendree a 68-65 lead with 1:50 left in regulation, but Ganote would come right and score on a driving lay-up with 1:17 remaining to drop McKendree's lead to 68-67, before Bultman's lay-up put McK up three.
 
SBU held a 35-27 edge on the glass and dished out 14 assists, while McKendree blocked six shots, including two each from Popovic and senior forward Luke Hensler (Okawville, Ill./SWIC).
 
McKendree won the turnover battle as they committed 14, while SBU had 17 turnovers that led to 22 points for the home team Bearcats.
 
Both teams were strong at the free throw line as McKendree was 11-for-13 at line and SBU was 8-for-10 for the contest.
 
McKendree will look to return to the win column as they return to the road for a 7:30 p.m. game in Rolla, Mo., against Missouri S&T (9-11 overall, 5-8 GLVC).