Southern Illinois News

Men’s Basketball Opens 2023 Portion of Schedule with Win Over Bible Baptist College

 McKendree men's basketball returned to action following the holiday break with a 77-54 win over Baptist Bible College at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center on Monday evening.
 
With the victory, the Bearcats improve to a 6-5 overall record with a 2-2 record in the Great Lakes Valley Conference as they prepare to resume conference play this week.
 
McKendree head coach George Suggs said following the game, "This was a good win to start 2023. I was glad to see us get out and compete again after the break and thought we showed some improvement on the defensive end. I am looking forward to our conference schedule as we continue to improve."
 
Although Baptist Bible would lead 6-4 after 90 seconds, McKendree would respond with a 19-0 run to hold a commanding 23-6 lead after 8.5 minutes of play. At the half, the Bearcats led 48-19, shooting 51 percent to the Patriots' 22-percent shooting from the field.
 
McKendree held their largest lead at 14 minutes left in the second half with a score of 60-26. Although Baptist Bible would attempt to rally with an eight-point run with under five minutes to play, the Bearcats held their ground to close out the game with a 77-54 win.
 
Four Bearcats were in double figures as scoring and rebounds were led by junior forward Miloš Vicentic with a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds, including scoring the first nine points of the game for McKendree. Vicentic was a perfect 3-for-3 from the three-point line while shooting 64 percent from the field (7-for-11). Vicentic tallied his ninth double-digit scoring performance of the season.
 
Along with Vicentic, sophomore forward Caleb Zurliene and senior guard Aleksander Davitkov sank 13 points each while senior guard Eric Powell II added 11 points. All three players, in addition to sophomore forward Hayden Meakes with seven points, shot 50 percent or better from field.
 
As a team, McKendree shot 46 percent from the field to Baptist Bible's 33 percent. Additionally, the Bearcats dominated the boards with a season-high 51 rebounds while the Patriots snagged only 29 rebounds in the game.
 
The Bearcats also dished out 21 assists, tallying their third game of the season with 20 or more assists. Senior guard Bryson Bultman had a game-high seven assists in the victory.
 
The win marked McKendree's first win by 20 or more points since defeating Culver-Stockton 94-65 on Nov. 18.
 
The Patriots were led in scoring by senior guard Nick Coble with nine points while freshmen Sam Moreland and Justin Wormwell each added eight points.
 
The Bearcats will return to action this Thursday with a GLVC contest at Drury tipping off at 7:30 p.m. in Springfield, Mo. 

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