BOX SCORE

(EVANSVILLE, Ind., Nov. 16)—The McKendree University men's basketball team saw its season record slip to 2-4 overall with a 90-68 loss Tuesday in non-conference action at the University of Southern Indiana.

Freshman guard Clinton Happe (Evansville, IN/F.J. Reitz) (Evansville, Ind./F.J. Reitz) returned to his hometown and led the Bearcats with 16 points. Senior forward Brad Copelin (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) and sophomore guard John Steppe (Effingham, IL/St. Anthony) (Effingham, Ill./St. Anthony) each connected for 12 points while junior forward Sean Rakers (New Baden, IL/Wesclin) (New Baden, Ill./Wesclin) was just a rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and a team-leading nine rebounds.

The host Screaming Eagles shot 63.5 percent from the field (40-of-63) and never trailed in the contest as they improved to 3-0 on the year.

“They are a well-rounded basketball team,” said McKendree coach Harry Statham after the contest. “They can run the floor, defend well and rebound extremely well. There were a couple of times where they really got hot and hit four or five shots in a row and played some good, pressure defense. They showed why they are consistently one of the top programs in NCAA Division II.”

Southern Indiana scored eight consecutive points to build a 15-6 lead six minutes into the contest. McKendree rallied quickly thanks to an 8-2 run as Steppe sandwiched three-pointers around a lay-up from Rakers to pull within 17-14 at the 12:45 mark. The Screaming Eagles then scored 12 of the next 14 points to stretch its lead out to 29-16 with 9:33 left in the half.

After leading 50-33 at the half, Southern Indiana pushed its lead to as many as 26 points, 82-56, with 6:38 remaining. Happe, who did not score in the first five games of the season for McKendree, then drilled consecutive three-pointers during a 7-0 spurt that helped the Bearcats pull back within 82-63.

“It was good to see Clinton come out and play as well as he did,” said Statham. “I know he had a lot of folks watching him play tonight and he was a big contributor for us.”

C.J. Trotter paced Southern Indiana with 21 points, 13 of which came in the first half. Isaac McClure came off the bench to post 19 points and a team-leading nine rebounds, while Mohamed Ntumba notched 16 points and seven rebounds.

McKendree will head to McKenzie, Tenn., this weekend for the Bethel University Classic. The Bearcats will take on Ohio State University-Marion on Friday at 6 p.m. before wrapping up the weekend against Lindenwood University-Belleville on Saturday at 1 p.m.