QU men bow out of GLVC Tournament following horrific shooting performance against McKendree

LEBANON, Ill. — It became dubbed the “Monday Night Massacre.”

Hardly anyone in the Great Lakes Valley Conference was immune to it.

Of the seven opening-round games of the GLVC men’s basketball tournament, five were decided by 26 points or more, including Quincy University’s 37-point loss at McKendree in which the Hawks shot less than 20 percent from the field.

Quincy trailed 40-18 at halftime and never gained any traction, losing 77-40 at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. The Hawks’ season ends with a 15-16 record after the Bearcats won a GLVC Tournament game for the first time since joining the league in 2012.

McKendree (14-11) opened the game on a 13-2 run, made 6 of 12 3-pointers in the first half and finished with eight players scoring between six and 13 points.

Meanwhile, the Hawks missed their first five shots and nine of their first 10. And it didn’t get any better. Quincy went 7 of 27 from the field in the first half and 4 of 31 in the second half, leading to a 19-percent shooting effort overall.

The Hawks went 5 of 28 from 3-point range (17.9 percent) and made just 11 field goals total while getting outrebounded 56-26.

Senior guard Silas Crisler led Quincy with 11 points.

Quincy heads into the offseason waiting for the administration to hire a head coach to replace Ryan Hellenthal, who was fired with four games remaining in the regular season. The Hawks went 3-2 since his dismissal, losing their final two games.