(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 7)—The McKendree University men's basketball pushed its record to 3-0 with a 65-53 victory Saturday afternoon at home against Ohio Dominican University.
The Bearcats' big men played a big role in Saturday's win as junior forward Brad Copelin (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) led the way with 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while senior forward Kenny Detmer (Aviston, Ill./Breese Central) (Aviston, Ill./Breese Central) chipped in with 16 points and seven rebounds.
McKendree, the No. 5 team in NAIA Division I, held a 38-26 edge on the boards and shot 55 percent in the second half to hold on for the victory. The Bearcats will play their first road game of the 2009-10 season Tuesday at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Bearcat head coach Harry Statham, the all-time wins leader in men's college basketball history, earned his 998th career win on Saturday. If McKendree defeats Graceland on Tuesday, Statham would earn win No. 999 and could make his first attempt and career victory No. 1,000 on Friday at home against East-West University in the McKendree Classic. No other men's coach at the four-year level has reached the 1,000-win mark.
Against Ohio Dominican, McKendree trailed early before going on a 16-2 run to take the lead for good, 25-15, with 4:19 left in the first half. Junior guard Andy Wolff (Centralia, Ill./Metro-East Lutheran) (Centralia, Ill./Metro-East Lutheran) scored the last four points of the run on driving lay-ups.
After leading 34-22 at the half, McKendree built its advantage to 18 points, 47-29, on a free throw by sophomore guard Karrington Pettiford (Florissant, MO/Christian Brothers) (Florissant, Mo./Christian Brothers) at the 10:39 mark. Ohio Dominican (0-1) started to chip away at the deficit, scoring the next nine points to pull within 47-37, but the Bearcats responded with the next seven points to put the game out of reach.
Aaron Gibbs paced Ohio Dominican with 17 points and nine rebounds. Zak Kapron added 10 points for the Panthers.
The teams will meet again Jan. 2, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio.
-McK-
