Hawks buckle down in second half, but can never fully reel Bearcats in while suffering GLVC loss

QUINCY — If Brad Hoyt were telling a fishing tale, McKendree would be the big one the Quincy University men’s basketball team could never reel in.

The Hawks seemingly had the Bearcats on the line, but they could never land the catch.

McKendree’s blistering first half led to a 17-point halftime lead Thursday night, which Quincy was able to trim to six with a little less than 11 minutes remaining in the second half. But the Bearcats went on an 8-2 run to push the lead back to double digits and couldn’t be reeled back in, winning 76-62 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at Pepsi Arena.

“We’re bruised a little bit,” said Hoyt, whose team has lost nine straight games in first season at the QU coach. “Sometimes when you’re bruised, you push and push and push and it turns into a different color on you and it starts to hurt a little bit more.”

The Hawks (8-17, 3-14 GLVC) simply weren’t competitive at the start of the game.

The Bearcats (12-12, 9-8 GLVC) scored on their first seven possessions, bolting to a 17-4 lead less than four minutes into the game. After a missed shot in the paint, McKendree scored on another five consecutive possessions and doubled up Quincy 31-15 with 12:24 to play in the half.

“It’s a readiness thing,” Hoyt said. “This time of the year, it’s tough. It’s tough when it’s going well. It’s tougher when it’s not going well. Obviously for us, it’s not going well. There’s some pride in that. There’s some ownership in that. There’s some competitive drive in that.

“At times, we had that tonight, For a lot of the time, we didn’t.”

Defensviely, the Hawks didn’t put up much of a fight in the first half.

The Bearcats shot 60 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes, making 10 of 16 3-pointers. McKendree forward Noah Franklin had 21 points in the first half, going 9 of 10 from the field and 3 of 3 from 3-point range.

Quincy scored just 31 points total in the first half.

“We have a hard time guarding,” Hoyt said. “And we have a hard time scoring. Our lineup just has a hard time putting the ball in the basket.”

It became a little easier early in the second half as as Max Booher made a pair of 3-pointers and Camren Kincaid buried another trey to trim the deficit to nine points six minutes into half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by El Sieger and Booher pulled the Hawks within 56-50 with 12:24 remaining.

The Bearcats scored the next six points and the Hawks never truly threatened again, shooting just 36.7 percent over the final 20 minutes.

Booher went 4 of 9 from 3-point range and finished with 12 points, leading four Hawks in double figures. Franklin led the Bearcats with 28 points and nine rebounds.