ST. LOUIS, Mo. - McKendree University men's basketball (15-12, 11-9 GLVC) locked up a Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament spot on Saturday afternoon, beating UMSL on the road, 78-74, behind a trio of double-digit scorers in junior forward
Milos Vicentic, senior guard
Eric Powell II, and senior guard
Bryson Bultman. Vicentic tallied back-to-back double-doubles with his 20-point, 10-rebound performance, marking his eighth 20-plus point contest of the season. The Bearcats grabbed a third-straight win to end the regular season and move up to the 6th-seed position for the upcoming conference tournament in St. Charles, Missouri on March 2-5 at Hyland Arena.
The Bearcats fell just short of a 50-40-90 night as a team in the contest, shooting a clean 50-percent from the field overall, 42.9-percent (9-21) from the arc, and 88.5-percent from the charity stripe. Four Bearcats went perfect from the line as Powell, Bultman, junior guard
Carson Parker, and senior guard
Aleksandar Davitkov combined to go 14-14. Nine players scored for McKendree overall in the game. The Bearcats also managed to hold the Tritons to just 20-percent from beyond the arc, not allowing a three-point make in the second half while keeping UMSL to under 50-percent from the field overall.
The Tritons jumped out quickly in the game, getting a seven-point lead going into the under-16 media timeout. UMSL kept a led until the Bearcats nailed back-to-back three pointers, taking their first lead of the game with 7:48 remaining in the first half. The conference foes battled back and forth for the following six minutes of the half until the Tritons built another seven-point lead in the final 1:40 of the half and took a 42-35 advantage into the locker room.
In the second half, UMSL held its lead again through the a major part of the second half with its lead growing to 11 points in the process. After the under-eight media, McKendree made its move, cutting the Triton lead down to one point with under six minutes remaining. With less than one minute left, the Bearcats and Tritons fought for a lead with Bultman hitting two free-throws to flip the Bearcats a one-point advantage. Vicentic added a pair of free-throws with 12 seconds remaining while sophomore guard
Caleb Zurliene added a final nail with his own free throw to make it a four-point game.
With the victory, the Bearcats clinched a postseason berth and moved up to sixth in the GLVC standings. McKendree will take on third-seeded William Jewell on Friday, March 3 at 2:15PM at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Missouri.
LEADERS
#31
Milos Vicentic | 20 points / 7-14 FGs / 5-6 FTs / 10 rebounds
#1
Eric Powell II | 18 points / 5-8 FGs / 4-7 3PTs / 4-4 FTs / 3 rebounds
#13
Bryson Bultman | 15 points / 6-6 FTs / 6 assists / 4 rebounds
