ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The men's basketball team overcame a 15-point deficit to win in overtime against Maryville University in Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) action on Thursday, January 30th at the Moloney Arena in St. Louis, Missouri.
Score: McKendree University 78, Maryville University 76 (OT)
Record: Bearcats 8-10, 5-6 GLVC | Saints 7-12, 3-8 GLVC
HOW IT HAPPENED
McKendree's junior guard Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.) started the game off with a bang by hitting a three-point shot in the opening minute of play. In the next few minutes, senior guard Dewayne Vass and Maryville would help ignite a 6-0 response to take control of the lead. The Bearcats would then get their whole team involved by spreading the scoring wealth across the board in which they led, 14-12 with 11:03 to go in the first half.
The two teams finished the rest of the first half of play neck-and-neck with Woods and senior guard Kevin Stein (Chester, N.Y.) each notching in five points for the Bearcats as the Saints had senior guard Luke Williams contribute nine of their 18 points. Maryville would gead into the locker rooms for the extended break with a 30-28 edge.
Maryville would widen the gap coming out of halftime with a 19-6 run, which included another nine from Williams as the Saints upped to their largest lead at 15. A pair of three-pointers by McKendree senior forward Hayden Meakes (Adelaide, Australia) helped his team respond with an 8-2 boost, but still trailing by just nine. Moments later, the Bearcats went on a monumental 11-2 run led by sophomore guard Luka Mateski (Belgrade, Serbia) to cut their deficit to only two with 4:25 to go in regulation.
With Mateski and Meakes clawing their way back into game, Williams on the other end made a huge jumper for the Saints to put them up two with only 32 seconds left of the game. McKendree Head Coach George Suggs then called for his team to run a set play in which Meakes would take a shot from beyond the arc but bounced off the rim and into the fingertips of senior guard Joey Niesman (Oswego, Ill), who tipped it in at the buzzer to give his squad life in overtime action.
Mateski and Meakes would again start off the fresh and new five minutes of overtime with a couple of made baskets while on the other end, graduate guard Anthony Holden, sank three consecutive three-pointers for the Saints to regain a four-point cushion. Meakes responded with a baby hook shot, and it was not until Niesman became the hero once more and drilled a three-point shot to take a one-point lead.
McKendree's Mateski and Maryville's Vass and Williams each dropped in a two-point bucket over the next trio of possessions. Down by one, Meakes found Niesman cutting to the rim in which the latter tapping it in to take the one-point lead. Maryville tried to get their last attempt to win the game but could not get the shot off and turned it over, leading to Stein splitting a pair of free throws. The Bearcats would steal the win 78-76.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
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Williams led Maryville with 24 points on 11-17 shooting along with four rebounds, two steals, an assist, and a block.
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McKendree shot 45.2% from the field, 29.2% from distance, and 68.2% from the stripe while the Saints ended with 54.8%, 29.4%, and 100% respectively.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back on the court on Saturday, February 1st, when they stay on the road in St. Louis, Missouri, to take on the University of Missouri-St. Louis at the Mark Twain Building with tip-off set for 3:00 PM CT.
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