LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University will continue its quest for a Great Lakes Valley Conference title this coming Thursday, March 3 as they face No. 2 seeded Lewis University in the second quarterfinal game of the 2022 GLVC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament at Community Bank Arena on the campus of SIU Edwardsville. Tipoff for Thursday's quarterfinal round game is slated for 8:30 p.m.
The Bearcats, who are making its third all-time appearance in the GLVC Tournament since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 2012, earned its spot in Thursday's quarterfinal game following its 77-40 first round victory at home on Monday over 10th-seeded Quincy University. The win was the first-ever postseason victory for the Bearcats at the Division II level.
In Monday's first round win over Quincy, the Bearcats won by 37 points and the 37-point margin of victory was the largest for the Bearcats since collecting a 44-point win of 105-61 over Principia College on Nov. 23, 2019, while the 40 points are the fewest allowed by the Bearcats in a game allowing 42 points to Illinois-Springfield in a 66-42 win over the Prairie Stars on Feb. 16, 2021. McKendree's defense also held Quincy to 19 percent shooting from the field and 18 percent shooting from the 3-point line and held them to just 18 first half points.
McKendree comes into Thursday's third meeting this season with Lewis sporting a 14-11 overall record and are almost assured of finishing with a winning record for the third consecutive season and that is the longest stretch of winning seasons in the program's 10-year Division II history.
Meanwhile, Lewis, who is sporting a 15-10 overall record, earned its spot in the quarterfinals following a 69-61 home win on Monday over 15th-seeded Maryville University in the tournament's first round.
McKendree has lost both games this season to the Flyers, who are the defending GLVC Tournament Champions, as Lewis earned a 78-62 win in Lebanon on Dec. 4 and then picked up a 70-62 win in Romeoville, Ill., on Feb. 21. Lewis leads the all-time series against the Bearcats, 15-3 and the Flyers have won three straight games in the series over the Bearcats.
The winner of the McKendree-Lewis game will advance to Saturday's second semifinal game at 8:30 pm. and they will face the winner of Friday's second quarterfinal game between No. 3 seeded Truman State and No. 6 seeded Indianapolis. The championship game of the tournament is scheduled for Sunday, March 6 at 3:30 p.m.
Four of the eight teams in the quarterfinals of the GLVC Tournament hail from the East Division, which McKendree is a member of. The other East Division schools that advanced to the quarterfinals are Indianapolis, Lewis and Southern Indiana. The Bearcats went 3-3 against those foes in the regular season as they posted a 9-11 record in GLVC play.
Entering Thursday's action, the Bearcats are averaging 69.5 points per game and have scored 74 or more points in 14 of 25 games and averaged 67.9 points per game in GLVC play. Additionally, the Bearcats are outrebounding its foes by nearly two boards per game and are shooting 45 percent from the field, 37 percent from the 3-point line and 75 percent at the free throw line. McKendree is sixth in the league in both field goal and 3-point field goal percentage and is fifth in 3-pointers made per game at 8.4.
Perhaps the biggest strength this season for the Bearcats has been its defense as McKendree enters Thursday's action sitting sixth in the league in scoring defense as they are allowing 67.6 points per game and have held nine opponents under 70 points, including holding Quincy to 40 points in Monday's first round GLVC Tournament game. In addition, the Bearcats are third in the league and 55th nationally in Division II in three-point field goal defense as their foes are shooting just 31.9 percent from downtown and are sixth in the league in field goal percentage defense at 42.8 percent.
Leading the way offensively for the Bearcats is junior guard
Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) as he is fourth in the league in scoring at 19.0 points per game and has tallied double figures in scoring in 23 of 25 games, including 22 times in his last 23 games after tallying 13 points on Monday against Quincy. Along with his scoring, Bultman is pulling down 6.2 boards per game, dishing out 3.8 assists per game and leads the league and is 13th nationally in Division II in minutes played as he is averaging 37 minutes per game and is shooting 50 percent from the field, 36 percent from the 3-point line and 76 percent at the line as he is third in the GLVC in both free throws made (106) and free throws attempted (140). Bultman is tied for the league lead in 30-point games with two and is second in the league with 13 games of scoring 20 or more points. Last Wednesday against Lindenwood, Bultman became the 52nd member of McKendree's 1,000-Point Club and enters play on Thursday currently sitting in 49th place in career scoring with 1,041 points.
Along with Bultman, the Bearcats other double-digit scorer this season is redshirt senior guard
Brendon Gooch (Belleville, Ill./SIU-Carbondale). Gooch is second on the team in scoring as he is averaging 10.2 points per game and is third in rebounding at 5.7 boards per game and is shooting 40 percent from the field, 35 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free throw line. Gooch has tallied double figures in scoring in 10 games and has recorded two double-doubles on the year and is averaging 10.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game over his last 10 games.
Perhaps the hottest offensive player of the Bearcats their last five games has been sophomore forward
Milos Vicentic (Belgrade, Serbia/OKK Belgrade), who is averaging 9.8 points and 4.8 rebounds and is shooting 46 percent from the field, 64 percent from the 3-point line and 75 percent from the free throw over his last five games and has reached double figures in two straight games, including tallying a career-high 11 points and pulling down a career-high six rebounds in the regular season finale at UMSL.
Thursday's quarterfinal opponent, Lewis, comes into action having won three of its last five games with the two losses coming in its final two games of the regular season at Maryville (49-48) and at Missouri S&T (80-61). Lewis, who won the 2021 GLVC Tournament with a 76-71 win in the championship game over Drury, is 26-18 all-time in the GLVC Tournament and has won three titles (2002, 2016, 2021). They opened their tournament run last season with a 62-59 win in Lebanon over McKendree.
Lewis enters the game as one of the top three-point shooting teams in the league as the Flyers are third in the GLVC in three-point field goal percentage as they are shooting 37.6 percent from long distance and are making 6.6 treys per game. Along with being third in the league in 3-point shooting, Lewis is fourth in the league in overall shooting as they are making nearly 46 percent of their field goal attempts this season and the Flyers are also fourth in the league in steals per game (7.1) and turnover margin (+1.3) and is fifth in assists (13.2) and third in the league in fewest turnovers as they average just 11.8 turnovers per game on the season.
Offensively, Lewis is averaging 70.4 points per game and is allowing 67.8 points per game on the season and the Flyers have scored 75 or more points in 10 games, but has been held to 70 points or less in four straight games, including scoring a season low 48 points in its loss last Thursday at Maryville.
The Flyers offense features three players averaging in double figures on the year as fifth-year senior forward Connor Niego, who was a two-time GLVC Player of the Week during the regular season, is averaging 14.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 52 percent from the field, 41 percent from the 3-point line and has had 20 games of scoring in double figures and had posted seven double-doubles, including scoring 11 points and pulling down 15 rebounds in Lewis' first round GLVC Tournament game win over Maryville.
In addition to Niego, who totaled 20 points and 11 rebounds in each of Lewis' games against the Bearcats this season, the other double digit scorers this season are senior guard/forward Bruno Williams and sophomore guard Beau Frericks. Williams is averaging 12.0 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 42 percent from the field and 40 percent from the 3-point line, while Frericks is averaging 10.1 points per game and is shooting 50 percent from the field, 48 percent from the 3-point line and 84 percent at the free throw line.
Scott Trost is in his 16th season at the helm of the Flyers and his 26th season overall as a college head coach. Trost has compiled a 442-261 career coaching record, including a 289-176 mark at Lewis. He has led the Flyers to five 20+ win seasons, six NCAA Tournament appearances and two GLVC Tournament titles (2016 and 2021) and is averaging nearly 18 years per year with the Flyers.
Thursday's game will mark the third meeting this season and 19th all-time between the two schools with Lewis holding a 15-3 edge in the series. In fact, Thursday's game will mark the second consecutive season the two teams are meeting in the postseason as Lewis defeated the Bearcats in last year's first round of the GLVC Tournament in Lebanon, Ill.
Here is a complete look at the tournament schedule of the 2022 GLVC Men's Basketball Championships.
