LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University men's basketball (9-9, 5-6 GLVC) used a strong second half to contain the Quincy Hawks during a Thursday night Great Lakes Valley Conference bout, grabbing a 66-62 win during a familiar battle at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. Eight Bearcats tallied points during the outing as sophomore guard
Caleb Zurliene led with 14 points while senior guards
Bryson Bultman and
Eric Powell II each had 12 and junior forward
Milos Vicentic collected 11. McKendree managed to hit 11 free throws while firing 50 percent from beyond the arc in the second half of play, helping push through for the victory. McKendree heads on the road for a single game at Illinois Springfield before coming back home for a pair of contests on February 2 and 4 against William Jewell and Truman State.
Zurliene came alive the second half, scoring more than half of his points with eight of his 14 coming in the second 20 minutes of action. Bultman led the way in the first half with his eight-point total, finishing with 12 in the contest with six boards and six assists. Junior guard
Carson Parker amassed nine boards on the night to lead the game, pairing six points in the effort. Vicentic finished the conference outing strong, scoring all of his points in the second half, including four of four from the charity stripe. The junior forward grabbed six rebounds while dishing-out a pair of assists.
The first half of the contest was a back-and-forth all-around battle between the Hawks and Bearcats with offensive struggles from both squads. McKendree fired over 50 percent from the field, hitting 13 field goals but gave up 14 turnovers to the Hawks. Quincy amassed 14 points off turnovers with 12 fast-break points in the first half. McKendree found itself to have a presence from many of its players as six individuals scored during the first 20 minutes. The Hawks' leading scorer Malik Hardmon led the game with 14 points with his seven first half steals, pushing Quincy to the lead at the intermission, 33-31.
McKendree took the lead, 42-37, in the second half early on with an 8-0 run over the Hawks behind a pair of threes from senior guards
Aleksandar Davitkov and Powell, which was followed by Bultman free throws. Quincy fought back with its own run of 11-0, leading 48-42 over the Bearcats at the under-eight media timeout. The game continued in a ferocious and intense manner, becoming tied at 56 following the under-four media timeout. The Bearcats fired back-to-back three pointers to extender a 62-58 lead with 56 seconds remaining in the game. Zurliene added a lay-in after sneaking behind the Hawks' defense, putting the game in McKendree's hands at 64-60. McKendree locked up the in-league game with Vicentic's pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining.
The win marked McKendree's third-straight over the Hawks, bringing the all-time series to 7-7.
LEADERS
Caleb Zurliene | 14 points / 3 assists / 2 rebounds / 2 blocks / 2 steals
Bryson Bultman | 12 points / 6 assists / 6 rebounds / 2 blocks / 1 steal
Eric Powell II | 12 points / 3 assists / 2 rebounds / 2 steals
Milos Vicentic | 11 points / 4-4 FTs / 6 rebounds / 2 assists
Carson Parker | 6 points / 3-3 FGs / 9 rebounds
UP NEXT
McKendree men's basketball heads north to Springfield, Illinois on Saturday, January 28 for an afternoon battle with the Prairie Stars at the UIS TRAC at 3:00PM.
