EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – There is an adage in sports that it is tough to beat a team three times in one season, well, that adage didn't ring true here Thursday evening for the McKendree University men's basketball team as the seventh-seeded Bearcats saw its 2021-22 season end following its third loss this season to No. 2 seeded Lewis University in the quarterfinal round of the 2022 Great Lakes Valley Conference Basketball Championships at First Community Arena on the campus of SIUE.
 
The Flyers defeated the Bearcats, 68-58 in Thursday's second quarterfinal game to advance to Saturday's semifinal round and end the Bearcats' season with a 14-12 record. Lewis, who are the defending GLVC Tournament champions, improved to 16-10 on the season.
 
"It is never easy having a season end, but this team has been incredibly resilient. I wish everyone got to be around as team that cares like this one," McKendree first-year head coach George Suggs said following the game.
 
On the season, McKendree faced seven teams at least two times and picked at least one win against six of those seven teams with the only team they didn't defeat was Lewis as they fell three times to the Flyers. McKendree went 2-0 against Illinois-Springfield, Quincy and was 1-1 against Maryville, Southern Indiana, Indianapolis, and Truman State.  
 
In Thursday's game, junior Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) did all he could do to keep the Bearcats in the game as he finished with his third double-double of the season as he scored a game-high 31 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, including scoring 24 of McKendree's 39 second-half points. Bultman was the lone Bearcat to score in double figures as junior guard Aleksandar Davitkov (Belgrade, Serbia/Partizan) and redshirt senior guard Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, Ill./SWIC) each scored eight points in the loss.
 
With his 31 points, Bultman, who was named a First-Team All-GLVC selection on the year, finishes the season with 505 points and pushed his career total to 1,072 points, which is 44th on the school's all-time chart and is now just 28 points shy of becoming the 42nd player in school history to score 1,100 career points. The 31-point game was also Bultman's third game this season of scoring 30 or more points, which is the most in the league.
 
Thursday's game was also the final game of McKendree's four seniors – Stephen, redshirt senior guard/forward Brendon Gooch (Belleville, Ill./SIU-Carbondale), senior forward Aleksa Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Cleveland State) and junior guard CaRondis Harris-Anderson (Waterloo, Iowa/Waterloo West).
 
"This group of seniors has changed this program for the better. They've reinvigorated the McKendree community and made me very proud," added Suggs. "I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to coach this team."
 
While Bultman was the lone Bearcat to score in double figures, Lewis put three players in double figures in the win as Bruno Williams scored a season-high 25 points, including tallying 23 of those points after halftime. In addition to Williams, Connor Niego added 16 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season, while Dre Bell chipped in with 14 points.
 
The second half became an offensive show between Bultman and Williams as those players combined to score 47 second half points and shot a combined 15-for-22 from the field.
 
Lewis shot 38 percent from the field and forced McKendree into nine turnovers, 28 percent shooting from the field and 18 percent from the 3-point line enroute to holding a 27-19 lead at the half.
 
After trailing 27-19 at the half, the Bearcats opened the second half on 10-8 run, including Bultman drilling back-to-back treys, to pull within 35-29 following a dunk by senior forward Luke Hensler (Okawville, Ill./SWIC) with 16 minutes left in the game.
 
The Flyers though used a 5-2 run to push its lead to 40-31 with 13:17 left in the game, but the Bearcats would answer back with a 7-3 run to drop LU's lead to 43-38 following a lay-up by Bultman with 9:10 remaining.
 
After Lewis missed a shot on its next trip down the court following Bultman's lay-up, the Bearcats had a chance to pull within two points, but sophomore forward Milos Vicentic (Belgrade, Serbia/OKK Belgrade) missed an open 3-point shot attempt.
 
A little later in the period, the Bearcats used a 4-0 run to cut Lewis' lead to 46-42 after two made free throws by Bultman with 6:19 left. That would be as close as the Bearcats would get a the Flyers responded with a 12-5 run capped by a trey from Williams with 2:34 left in the game. Williams' trey gave Lewis a 58-47 lead. Williams scored seven of the 12 points during the run.
 
After Bultman scored on a lay-up with 2:21 left to pull within 58-49, Niego and Kawanise Wilkins made back-to-back lay-ups and Bell hit 1-of-2 free throws to give the Flyers a 63-49 lead with 1:03 remaining. The 14-point lead was the largest of the game for either team.
 
The Bearcats would try to mount one last comeback in the final minute as they used a trey from Bultman and back-to-back treys from Stephen to pull within 67-58 with 30 seconds left , but Williams would cap the scoring by hitting 1-of-2 free throws with 28 seconds left in the game.
 
McKendree would finish the game shooting 43.5 percent from the field and was 8-for-22 (36 percent) from the 3-point line, while Lewis shot 43 percent from the field and was held to 21 percent shooting (3-for-14) from the 3-point line.
 
Lewis held a 34-33 edge on the boards, including a 10-7 advantage on the offensive boards.
 
The Bearcats, though, struggled to take of the basketball as they tied a season high with 16 turnovers and those 16 turnovers led to 13 points for Lewis. Lewis had just seven turnovers on the night.
 
Lewis also held an advantage at the free throw line as they shot and made nine more free throws than the Bearcats as Lewis was 19-for-27 (70.4 percent) at the line and the Bearcats were 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) from the line, including a 7-for-13 effort (53.8 percent) from the line in the second half.