LEBANON, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball team overcame an eight-point deficit first half deficit to defeat McKendree 62-59 on Wednesday evening at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Ill. The Flyers improve to 12-9 while the Bearcats finish their season with a mark of 10-9.

Lewis, seeded fifth, will meet eighth seeded Indianapolis on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Mark Twain Center on the campus of Missouri-St. Louis. The Greyhounds upset top seeded and second ranked Truman State 75-73 on Wednesday evening in Kirksville, Mo.

The two teams went back-and-forth for the first 14-plus minutes and were tied at 23 after a three-pointer from Isaiah Wilson with 5:28 to play in the half.

Wilson's three sparked an 11-0 run for McKendree allowing them to take a 31-23 lead with 3:15 remaining in the stanza. Wilson accounted for eight of the 11 points in the run.

The Flyers closed the half scoring four of the final six points to head into the locker room trailing 33-27 at the break.

The two teams continued to go back-and-forth over the first eight-plus minutes of the second half, but the Bearcats still lead 49-47 after a three-pointer from Jacob Donaldson.

Lewis rattled off seven in a row to take its largest lead of the game at 54-49 with 6:53 to go on a layup by Artese Stapleton (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) that capped the run.

McKendree scored eight of the next 10 points to regain the lead at 57-56 as Brendon Gooch completed an old-fashioned three-point play with 3:57 to play.

The two sides swapped baskets over the next minute as the Bearcats led 59-58 on a layup Bryson Bultman with 2:37 left.

Connor Niego (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) gave the Flyers the lead for good knocking down a three-pointer with 1:26 remaining.

McKendree had two chances to retake the lead but Gooch missed a three with 63 seconds left and Bultman missed a three with 0:17 to play.

Lewis got the rebound and the Bearcats were forced to foul Atakan Sahinkaya (Istanbul, Turkey/Perkiomen School) who made 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to extend the lead to three.

After a McKendree turnover, Sahinkaya had a chance to seal the game at the line but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 as Gooch got the rebound. The Bearcats had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer but Oliver Stephen's three-point attempt at the buzzer was off the mark.  

The Flyers shot 50 percent (26-for-52) from the field, including going 15-for-25 (60 percent) in the second half and was 4-of-8 from three in the final 20 minutes. It shot 46 percent (6-for-13) at the foul line. It outrebounded McKendree 33-27 and outscored them 36-16 in the paint.

Stapleton led four Lewis players in double figures with 14 points and was tied for the game-high in scoring. Sahinkaya and Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) added 12 points apiece while Niego finished with 11 points. Sahinkaya also had a game-high eight rebounds.

The Bearcats were held to 36.8 percent (21-for-57) shooting in the contest and were 13-of-35 from three and shot 67 percent (4-of-6) at the foul line. Donaldson led McKendree with 14 points while Stephen and Alijah Thomas had 11 points apiece.