Southern Illinois News

Men's Basketball Unable to Overcome Prairie Stars' Late Lead

 McKendree University men's basketball fell 72-67 at the University of Illinois-Springfield on Saturday afternoon. The Bearcats move to 9-10 overall on the season and 5-7 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference as they prepare to host William Jewell and Truman State.

The Prairie Stars jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead before senior guard Eric Powell II fired a three to put McKendree on the board. UIS's offense pressed on, extending their lead to as much as 13 with five minutes left in the first half. McKendree battled back, outscoring the Prairie Stars 15-9 in the final minutes of the half to cut UIS's lead to 40-32 heading into the break.

The Bearcats chipped away at the Prairie Stars' lead, finding their first lead of the game with 11 minutes to go in the second half of play, 53-52. McKendree held the slight lead ahead of UIS until the final minute where a basket from guard Jack Weber gave the Prairie Stars a 66-65 advantage. In the final stretch, Weber hit an and-1 layup and two more free throws to put UIS up   71-67 with ten seconds remaining. McKendree was forced to foul to regain possession, but would fall 72-67 at the end of 40 minutes of play.

McKendree was narrowly outshot by UIS from the field as the Bearcats posted a 46.2 percentage while UIS sank 46.7 percent of shots for the contest. The Bearcats, however, would outshoot the Prairie Stars 44 percent to 33 percent from beyond the arc and 73 percent to 53 percent from the charity stripe. McKendree won the battle of the boards 34-31.

The Bearcats were led by sophomore forward Caleb Zurliene who recorded his second double-double of the season with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Senior guard Bryson Bultman added 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists while fellow senior guard Aleksander Davitkov netted 10 points for McKendree. Powell and fifth-year senior Luke Hensler also posted eight points each.

UIS improves to 13-8 overall and 7-6 in the GLVC with the victory. The Prairie Stars were led by Weber who netted a game-high 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Up next, the Bearcats will host William Jewell on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. and Truman State at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. 

Original source can be found here