(ST. LOUIS, Mo., Feb. 6)—McKendree University men's basketball coach Harry Statham became the all-time wins leader in college basketball history at the four-year level – men's or women's – as the Bearcats recorded a 92-84 win Saturday afternoon at Maryville University.
 
Statham, in his 50^th season at the helm of the McKendree program, earned career win No. 1,099 thanks to the Bearcats' triumph on Saturday to break a tie with former University of Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt atop the list. Summitt had 1,098 victories in her career before retiring after the 2012 season.
 
'This win means more to me for all the players who have been in our program, past and present," said Statham following Saturday's contest. "For our (current) players, the pressure was building on them with everyone asking them when the next (win) would come. This was a big game for us in the conference and to get this one out of the way, to get a big win and to see the pressure come off them means more than anything right now. I'm sure somewhere down the road I will look back and enjoy the moment. It was great to see all our fans travel to St. Louis, get behind us and be a part of this."
 
Freshman guard Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) poured in a career-high 40 points – which included six three-point field goals – and added eight rebounds along with a pair of steals to lead the way for McKendree. Junior guard David Franklin (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) also had a big afternoon with 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals in the win. Junior guard Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) registered a double-double for the Bearcats with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
"We really wanted to get this win for Coach," said Michael. "Coach is McKendree University. I think we've been stressing a little and trying to do too much on the court. We fought hard today and got a big win that we needed. He's a great coach and a great man, and we're all just glad to be a part of this."
 
McKendree improves to 11-10 overall and 4-9 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play thanks to Saturday's historic win, which came in the final road game of the 2015-16 regular season. The Bearcats will look to make a GLVC Tournament push by playing its final five games at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center, beginning with a Thursday contest against Missouri S & T. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
The teams traded leads until the midway point of the first half, when McKendree used an 11-1 run to build its biggest lead of the period at 24-17. Michael scored the final nine points of the run, which was capped by a jumper with 7:08 left until halftime. Maryville battled back and regained a 28-26 advantage before a steal and lay-up by Franklin and another jumper from Michael sent the Bearcats into the locker room with a 30-28 advantage.
 
Michael drilled a three-pointer on the Bearcats' first possession of the second half to extend the lead to five points before the host Saints rallied. After chipping away at the deficit, Maryville put together a 9-2 run to grab a 49-44 lead with 13:15 remaining. The Saints maintained a five-point advantage when McKendree took the lead for good. A three-pointer by Michael sparked a 13-4 run to push the Bearcats out to a 62-58 lead with 8:50 remaining. A 12-2 run later in the period gave McKendree its largest lead of the contest, 77-64, with just over four minutes on the clock.
 
Maryville made one final run, trimming the deficit to 88-84 with 17 seconds to go. Franklin was fouled and made two shots to give McKendree a six-point lead. Following a Saints' miss, junior guard Kyle Yates (Bethalto, IL/Civic Memorial) sealed the victory by hitting two free throws with 3.2 seconds to play. As Yates stepped to the line, the Bearcats' fans in attendance began chanting Statham's name in anticipation of the record-breaking win.
 
Forrester Sims led Maryville (8-15, 2-11 GLVC) with 23 points before fouling out. Marvin Grant-Clark added 21 points, while Max Mischkulnig and Jeff Leeson each posted 10 points. Mischkulnig helped out with a team-high seven rebounds for the Saints, who dropped their second straight contest.
 
Ironically, this was the second time that Maryville was the Bearcats' opponent when Statham recorded a milestone victory. McKendree defeated the Saints 83-72 back on Dec. 1, 2004 as Statham recorded career win No. 880 to surpass former University of North Carolina coach Dean Smith as the all-time wins leader in men's college basketball history at the four-year level.