ST. LOUIS - The seconded seed William Jewell men's basketball team advanced to their second Great Lakes Valley Conference title game in three years on Saturday by defeating six seed McKendree 77-66. The Cardinals improve to 21-9 while the Bearcats finish the season at 22-8. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• McKendree came out of the gate hot, taking a seven point lead midway through the opening half and maintained that advantage until late. Isaac Patterson, Ashton Jermain, Bradley Lightbourne, and Kyle Scharbrough combined for five three pointers over three plus minutes as the Cardinals rallied and took a 37-35 lead into the locker room. 
• The Bearcats got a layup from Rini Harris early in the second half to go back in front by three but two more triples from Scharbrough and Patterson followed by a bucket by Justice Sutton put the Cardinals in front, 51-44 with under 13 to play. McKendree made a late push, getting within four with just 2:34 on the clock, but Jermain's three with 58 seconds to go expanded the lead to nine and all but sealed the win. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Patterson poured in a season high 25 points, on 4-of-9 from long range and 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. 
• Lightbourne scored 17, with Sutton adding 13 and Scharbrough and Jermain each finishing with 10 as the Cardinals put five players in double figures. 
• McKendree entered the contest as the GLVC's best defensive team, allowing opponents just 64.1 points per game but Jewell surpassed that mark by 13. Meanwhile, the Cardinals who are third in the league defensively (68.6) held the Bearcats below their season average (73.5). 
• Jewell was 8-for-8 from the free throw line over the final minute to secure the win, and 16-of-17 in total. 

UP NEXT
Jewell will take on eight seed Drury University on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. The Panthers upset top seed Rockhurst in the quarterfinal before defeating UIndy to advance to the title game.