INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - McKendree University men's basketball fell to the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the NCAA DII Midwest Regional Championship on Tuesday evening, ending the historical run for McKendree's 2022-23 season.
In the championship, McKendree faced a challenging defensive effort from the Tritons as UMSL claimed the lead at the half, 34-28. The 28 points and 41.7 field goal percentage marked the lowest for the Bearcats in the first half for the three tournament games. Though the Tritons would extend their lead to as many as 18 points with 11:21 to play in the second half, the Bearcats did not back down.
In a stretch of seven minutes, McKendree went on a 15-0 run against UMSL to close the gap to 55-52 with 4:02 left in the contest. Twice in the last three minutes, the score was tied between the Bearcats and Tritons, including a 59-all tie with 43 seconds remaining. UMSL's Isaiah Fuller found a back-door layup to put the Tritons up by two at 19 seconds to play. A free throw from senior guard Bryson Bultman put the Bearcats within one, though Fuller would answer with a free throw of his own to set the score at 62-60 as McKendree gained possession with eight seconds left. A last-second shot just off the mark for McKendree left the final score at 62-60 in favor of UMSL.
The Bearcats were led offensively by Bultman with 22 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, and junior forward Milos Vicentic who tallied 19 points and six rebounds. Through the three tournament games, Vicentic totaled 76 points including a career-high 31 points against Northern Michigan.
Bultman and Vicentic were named to the NCAA DII Midwest Regional All-Tournament team in addition to UMSL's Fuller (Most Outstanding Player) and Victor Nwagbaraocha, and Northern Michigan's Max Bjorklund.
For the season, the Bearcats' accomplishments included the first-ever Great Lakes Valley Conference championship. McKendree came into the tournament seeded No.8, though the Bearcats would prevail over Southwest Baptist, William Jewell, and UMSL to claim the title. Once earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament, McKendree won its first-ever NCAA tournament game against the No.1-seeded University of Indianapolis. The Bearcats' postseason triumph did not stop there as they defeated No.5-seeded Northern Michigan for their first-ever NCAA semifinal victory.
In addition to historic wins, McKendree posted a team field goal percentage of 49.5 percent, the highest of any McKendree team in the Division II era of the team starting in 2013.
McKendree concludes its season with a 20-13 overall record to mark the first 20-win season in the Division II era for McKendree men's basketball.
