LEBANON, Ill. – The (RV) men's basketball team could not capitalize down the final stretches of play in the GLVC matchup at William Jewell College on Saturday, January 10th at the Mabee Center in Liberty, Missouri.
Score: McKendree University 60, William Jewell College 64
Record: Bearcats 11-4, 4-3 GLVC | Cardinals 8-7, 4-3 GLVC
HOW IT HAPPENED
Guard Andrew Moore (Montgomery County, Mo.) knocked down a trio of triples for the Bearcats to give them their first nine points in the road matchup, as the freshman would get his groove back from distance after not hitting the three-ball in the last outing at Truman State University, which ended a personal six-game streak of hitting at least one.
That would be the only points McKendree was able to muster up as WJC utilized a 8-0 responding spurt to take their first lead of the game. With 12 minutes left to play in the initial half, the Bearcats would regain control as sophomore forward Wyatt Zellers (Scottsburg, Ind.) gave his squad their fourth three-pointer already as senior guard Caleb Burton (O'Fallon, Ill.) and sophomore forward Joshua Schönbäck (Kierling, Austria) swerved their way inside for a couple easy layups.
After helping seal the deal in Kirksville on Thursday, Schönbäck gave the Bearcats a quick five in the closing minutes, including a shot from the top of the right wing. After a missed shot with 15 seconds left on the defensive end, the Cardinals corralled their own miss to set up a step-back triple, which hit nothing but net at time expired for WJC to cut their deficit to 28-31 at the half.
That shot carried momentum into the second half of play as Cardinal guard Kyle Scharbrough ignited his team by scoring the first eight points of a game-swinging 15-1 run to take an 10-point lead.
McKendree finally connected on their first made field goal in the second half with redshirt freshman guard Jackson Wors (Muncie, Ind.) made an up-and-under scoop layup almost eight minutes in. The next several minutes saw both teams keeping pace with their scoring, as the Bearcats maintained their composure from the free throw line.
Still down by double digits with a little over six and a half minutes remaining, guards Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.) and Rini Harris (O'Fallon, Ill.) catapulted the Bearcats back within contention with Woods converting on an and-one opportunity while Harris stretched outside the paint for a couple of buckets to tie the game up at 58 apiece with 1:54 left on the clock.
A few missed opportunities would eventually doom the squad as they had to turn their attention to intentional fouling, where WJC made do on their free throws and came away with handing McKendree a close 60-64 loss on the road.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Harris led all Bearcats with 14 points, plus seven rebounds, two steals, and a block.
• Moore matched his scoring average with 11 points in the game, going 4-for-9 (44.4%) from the field and 3-for-5 (60.0%) from deep, as he also came away with six boards, a pair of assists, and a blocked shot as well.
• McKendree shot 39.6% from the field, 43.8% from deep, and 78.9% from the line.
• Despite the loss, the Bearcats outrebounded the Cardinals 39-30.
• McKendree held the advantage in points inside the paint at 24-16.
• The Bearcats move to 1-2 on the season in games decided by 1-5 points.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action next Thursday, January 15th, when they return home to face the Bearcats from Southwest Baptist University at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Illinois, with tip-time slated for 7:30 PM CT.
Fans can tune in live or on-demand on the Bearcats' GLVC Sports Network with a subscription/download purchase required, as live stats will also be provided. Tickets can be found on the team schedule at mckbearcats.com.
Keep up with McKendree University Men's Basketball on Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram. #GLVCmbb | #D2mbb
For more updates and information on Bearcat Athletics, please continue to visit McKBearcats.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram.
#BearcatsUnleashed
