ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team's bid for a second straight Great Lakes Valley Conference title came up in short in a 62-51 loss to McKendree on Sunday afternoon at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.

The Tritons drop to 21-10 while the Bearcats improve to 18-12 and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that begins next weekend.

McKendree hit its first seven shots to begin the game as it jumped out to an 11-point lead six minutes into the contest. UMSL battled back to within 17-10 after back-to-back baskets from Isaiah Fuller and Janeir Harris but the Bearcats countered scoring 21 of the next 33 points to build its largest lead of the at 38-22 on a three-pointer from Eric Powell II with 1:18 left in the half.

The Tritons got a jumper from Fuller in the final minute of the half to cut the McKendree lead to 14 at the intermission.

UMSL scored the first six points of the second half to cut the Bearcat lead to single digits but McKendree came back with six straight to regain its 14-point advantage.

The Tritons closed to within five at 54-49 after a layup from Victor Nwagbaraocha with 3:33 remaining in the game. UMSL had a chance to cut it to two with under three minutes to go but Bowen Sandquist missed a three from the top of the key and the Bearcats got the rebound.

That would be the closest the Tritons got as McKendree ended the game an 8-2 run to win its first GLVC championship in program history.

UMSL was held to 35 percent shooting (20-for-58) from the floor in the contest, was 2-of-16 from three and shot 69 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded the Bearcats 34-32. Fuller led the Tritons in scoring with 18 points while Nwagbaraocha and Drew Cisse had eight points each. Cisse also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Fuller and Sandquist were named to the GLVC's All-Tournament team.

McKendree shot 51 percent (23-for-45) from the field in the game including 7-of-15 from three and also shot 69 percent at the foul line. Bryson Bultman led all scorers with 20 points while Milos Vicentic added 18 points and Caleb Zurliene finished with 13 points.

UMSL will find out on Sunday evening if they've secured an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament during the NCAA Selection Show.