SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The men's basketball team could not pull off the comeback against Drury University in Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) action on Thursday, January 16th at the O'Reilly Family Events Center in Springfield, Missouri. 

Score: McKendree University 70, Drury University 84 

Record: Bearcats 7-8, 4-4 GLVC | Panthers 7-8, 2-6 GLVC 

HOW IT HAPPENED

In a first half that saw five lead changes, both teams would go at each other blow-by-blow in the first 10 minutes of action as McKendree would jump out to a 11-7 lead at the 16:13 mark behind a deep ball and a layup from junior guard Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.). However, an and-one play by Drury's senior guard Brock Wakefield boosted the home squad to a responding 11-5 run for the next several minutes to put them up by just two, yet a pair of back-to-back triples from graduate guard Quenton Shelton increase that lead to seven with 12:24 to go in half number one. A pair of answered three-pointers from Woods plus one from senior guard Joey Niesman (Oswego, Ill.) brought the score to even out at 26-all at the midway point of the period. 

The back half of the first half saw a daunting 12-0 spurt by the Panthers led by two triples from sophomore guard Zach Howell and a pair of hook shots from senior forward Riek Riek that would see Drury running away with a somewhat comfortable lead. Nisman and Shelton would battle out the final four minutes until halftime with the former notching in seven points in that span, but McKendree would still find themselves down 35-45 at the half. 

Drury would open the second half of play with an 8-4 point advantage behind a couple of inside shots from Riek Riek but a six-point swing behind senior forward Hayden Meakes (Adelaide, Australia) including an old-fashioned three-point-play and actual three-pointer brought his Bearcats to within eight. McKendree continued to look for the high-scoring looks as Woods was later fouled on a three-point attempt in which he knocked down all three free throws and was followed by another shot from beyond the arc from Niesman to cut the deficit to just four. 

After a layup inside and a made free throw from the Panthers, Woods would spark his own mini 5-0 run to make it a one-possession game, down by just two. Nonetheless, Drury would keep the Bearcats at bay with a final 24-12 run in the final 8:18 of play, where sophomore guard Luka Mateski (Belgrade, Serbia) contributed nine points – seven of which from the charity stripe – within that span as McKendree would fall to the Panthers on the road 70-84. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Woods dropped in his McKendree career-high in points with 24 while shooting 7-12 from the field, 4-6 from deep, and a perfect 6-6 from the line. He also had three rebounds, a block, and a steal. 

• Niesman followed behind with 18 points on 6-12 shooting and 4-9 from three while getting four assists and rebounds each plus two steals and a blocked shot. 

• Mateski rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Bearcats with 11 points in going 7-8 from the line. 

• Drury finished with four double-figure scorers, with Howell earning a team-high 21 points on 8-14 shooting and 4-8 from beyond the arc while corralling a game-high 12 rebounds. 

• McKendree shot 42.0% from the field, 34.6% from distance, and 79.2% from the stripe while the Panthers ended with 52.8%, 41.2%, and 80.8% respectively. 

• Drury finished +3 in points off of turnovers, +10 in bench points, + 16 in points in the paint, and +8 in fast break points. 

• Both teams ended with four second-chance points. 

UP NEXT

McKendree will be back on the court on Saturday, January 18th when they travel to Bolivar, Missouri, to take on Southwest Baptist University at the John Q. Hammons Court with tip-off set for 3:00 PM CT. 

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