INDIANAPOLIS – No. 6 seed McKendree University captured the 2023 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Men's Basketball Championship crown on Sunday with a 62-51 victory over No. 5 seed University of Missouri-St. Louis at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
McKendree, with the program's first Conference title, has earned the league's automatic-qualifying bid to the 2023 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional, as they await the
Selection Show tonight at 11 PM Eastern Time.
The Bearcats led wire-to-wire, increasing their lead to as much as 16 at the end of the first half and never letting the Tritons get closer than five points in the second half, becoming the first 6-seed to win the postseason tournament. Missouri-St. Louis held an advantage in bench points, 12-0, and second-chance points, 13-0, but McKendree held a significant shooting advantage from the field, 51.1%-34.5%, and even more so from three-point range, 46.7%-12.5%; though, both teams shot 69.2% from the foul line.
McKendree had three players finish in double figures, led by Bryson Bultman with a game-high 20 to go with eight rebounds. Milos Vicentic had 18 points on 7-of-13 (53.8%) shooting, and Caleb Zurliene scored 13 with eight boards, and tallied two game-high numbers in assists (five) and blocks (three). UMSL's leading scorer was Isaiah Fuller, who finished with 18, while Drew Cisse scored eight and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Vicentic was named to the All-Tournament team as the Most Valuable Player after his weekend efforts, while teammates Bultman and Zurliene were also recognized. UMSL's Fuller and Bowen Sandquist rounded out the five-player squad.
2023 GLVC All-Tournament Team
- Milos Vicentic, MCK – MVP
- Bryson Bultman, MCK
- Caleb Zurliene, MCK
- Isaiah Fuller, UMSL
- Bowen Sandquist, UMSL