LEBANON, Ill. – The men's basketball team got outlasted in the final moments of play against the University of Indianapolis in Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) action on Saturday, February 15th at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Illinois. 

Score: McKendree University 72, University of Indianapolis 76 

Record: Bearcats 11-12, 8-8 GLVC | Greyhounds 14-11, 8-9 GLVC 

HOW IT HAPPENED

UIndy began with an early 5-0 edge in the opening minutes of play. Yet, McKendree would follow suit on their end of the court as junior guard Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.) powered the offense for his squad by knocking down a trio of the Bearcats' five three-point shots with senior forward Hayden Meakes (Adelaide, Australia) and freshman forward Rini Harris (O'Fallon, Ill.) connecting on the other two. At the 10-minute mark exactly, Greyhound fifth-year guard Zac Szul responded with a three-point shot of his own but would find themselves down to the home team 19-22. 

Both teams dropped 18 points in the later 10 minutes of the first half as Woods and senior guard Kevin Stein (Chester, N.Y.) got inside for a layup each to put the Bearcats ahead by eight with just a handful of minutes remaining. McKendree would continue spreading the wealth from beyond the arc as the guards in sophomore Justin King (Mascoutah, Ill.) and a senior Destin Whitaker (Romeoville, Ill.) each nailed one to eventually hold a 40-37 lead heading into halftime. 

Stein would help McKendree stick to their pace into the second half of play as he and Whitaker would keep their presence felt from beyond the three-point line as they each sunk one in to maintain a slight scoring cushion. Moments later, senior guard Joey Niesman (Oswego, Ill.) would swipe the ball away from the opposition before they could cross halfcourt as he would then dump it off to junior forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) who would throw down the two-handed breakaway slam and go up 57-54 with 9:52 remaining in regulation. 

A 7-3 run by UIndy opened the door for the Greyhounds to sneak themselves to a one-point lead with only a handful of minutes to go. A minute later, Niesman would knock down a step-back three-pointer to erupt the home crowd, but UIndy went on another run to regain a one-point advantage. With 41 seconds remaining, Szul missed both opportunities at the line after a foul to which gave McKendree a chance to tie or take the lead. A couple of drawn-up plays allowed Meakes to spot up for a pair of three-point shots, but both of them would unfortunately bounce off the rim, leading the way for the Greyhounds to snatch the 76-72 win on the road. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Stein led McKendree in scoring with 16 points on 5-10 shooting and 3-7 from three to go with a trio of assists and rebounds. 

• Woods followed with 15 points, all of which came in the first half, as he shot 6-10 from the field and 3-5 from distance while dishing out a pair of assists. 

• Sophomore guard Luka Mateski (Belgrade, Serbia) rounded out the team's double-digit scoring with 11 points with seven of them coming from the free throw line as he corralled three rebounds. 

• After grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds in the last outing versus Lewis University, Niesman followed up with nine boards along with seven points. 

• Junior guard Dashawn Jackson led UIndy with 19 points, six rebounds, and three steals and assists. 

• McKendree shot 43.3% from the field, 37.5% from distance, and 63.6% from the stripe while the Greyhounds ended with 47.3%, 42.1%, and 76.2% respectively. 

• Despite the loss, the Bearcats were +1in points off of turnovers. 

• UIndy was +5 in bench points and +10 in points inside the paint. 

• Both teams had eight second-chance points and two fast break points. 

UP NEXT

McKendree will be back on the court on Thursday, February 20th, when they hit the road to take on Quincy University, with tip-off set for 7:30 PM CT. 

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