(LEBANON, Ill., March 5)—The McKendree University men’s basketball team held off an upset bid by Harris-Stowe State University Wednesday to post an 81-72 victory at home in the semifinal round of the American Midwest Conference Tournament.

 

McKendree, ranked No. 10 in the final NAIA Division I coaches’ poll, defeated Harris-Stowe for the third time this season to advance to the AMC Tournament championship contest. The top-seeded Bearcats, now 25-6 overall, will play host to No. 2 seed Columbia College Saturday at 7 p.m. in Lebanon. McKendree won both meetings this season with Columbia, winning 79-50 at home on Jan. 26 and 73-70 in Columbia on Feb. 26. Columbia earned its way into the AMC Tournament title game with a 76-69 win Wednesday at home over the University of Illinois at Springfield.

 

Against Harris-Stowe, junior guard Eric Palm (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) and freshman forward Brad Copelin (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) (O’Fallon, Ill./O’Fallon) led a balanced attack with 15 points each for McKendree. Freshman guard Andy Wolff (Centralia, Ill./Metro-East Lutheran) (Centralia, Ill./Metro-East Lutheran) came off the bench to post 13 points and a game-high six assists, while senior guard Trent Kull (Altamont, Ill./Altamont) (Altamont, Ill./Altamont) posted 10 points in a reserve role. Freshman forward Eric Hobbie (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds in the win for McKendree.

 

Harris-Stowe (13-19) scratched out an 18-17 lead eight minutes into the contest before McKendree used a 16-5 run to grab the lead for good, 33-23, with 4:35 left in the first half. After holding a 41-29 lead at the intermission, the Bearcats scored six of the first eight points of the second half to increase its margin to 49-31.

 

McKendree maintained its double-digit lead until the closing minutes, when Harris-Stowe scored the final eight points of the contest.

 

Phillip Stewart scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Harris-Stowe, while Mack Caldwell chipped in with 14 points and eight rebounds. Brandon Davis posted 11 points for the Hornets.