(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 20)—Sophomore guard Karrigton Pettiford (Florissant, Mo./Christian Brothers) hit a three-point shot at the final buzzer to give the McKendree University men's basketball team to a 67-64 victory Saturday at home against Harris-Stowe State University.
Pettiford's three-pointer from near the top of the key gave McKendree, the No. 9-ranked team in NAIA Division I, its 13th win in the last 14 outings. With the win, the Bearcats are now 22-6 overall and 11-1 in the American Midwest Conference. McKendree has now won its last 83 games against Harris-Stowe, with the streak dating back to the 1967-68 season.
Harris-Stowe (14-14, 5-7 AMC) never led in the contest, but tied the game at 64-64 on a free throw by Lamarr Howard with seven seconds remaining. Needing to go the length of the court for a last shot, McKendree quickly got the ball up the floor as junior guard Andy Wolff (Centralia, Ill./Metro-East Lutheran) (Centralia, Ill./Metro-East Lutheran) dribbled past midcourt. He stopped in front of the Bearcats' bench and threw a pass to Pettiford, who was standing 22 feet from the basket.
Pettiford used a pump fake to elude one defender, then stepped up and drilled his game-winning shot. Pettiford finished with nine points and three assists for the Bearcats.
Junior forward Brad Copelin (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) led McKendree with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Copelin became the 44th member of the Bearcats' 1,000-point club when he scored on a driving lay-up with and free throw with 6:18 left in the contest. Copelin now has 1,002 career points at McKendree and is the second Bearcats' player to reach the 1,000-point milestone this season. Junior forward Eric Hobbie (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) hit the mark in McKendree's season opener against Trinity International University.
Senior forward Kenny Detmer (Aviston, Ill./Breese Central) (Aviston, Ill./Breese Central) also had 15 points for McKendree along with seven rebounds. Junior guard RaShad May (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) chipped in with eight points, five rebounds and a team-high five steals for the Bearcats.
McKendree led by as many as 10 points in four different occasions in the contest, with the last coming at 52-42 with 8:54 to play. Harris-Stowe started to chip away at the deficit. The Hornets scored eight consecutive points to pull within 60-59 with 3:08 remaining. Detmer scored on a jumper a minute later, then added two free throws at the 1:29 mark to help the Bearcats extend their lead back to 64-59.
The Hornets quickly responded with a basket from Howard to pull within 64-61, then used a steal and lay-up from Marcel Anderson to trim the deficit to 64-63 with 18.6 seconds left.
The Bearcats turned the ball over with 12.1 seconds to play, giving the Hornets a chance to grab their first lead of the night. Harris-Stowe's Tyrone Howard missed a short jumper, but Howard was fouled on the put-back attempt. Howard missed the first free throw but made the second, tying the score and setting up Pettiford's heroics.
Anderson led all scorers with 19 points for Harris-Stowe. Robert Mumphard added 13 points while Stevens finished with 11 points. Jarvis Walker grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for the Hornets.
McKendree was able to complete the season sweep of the Hornets with Saturday's victory. The Bearcats defeated Harris-Stowe 74-66 back on Jan. 23 in St. Louis.
The Bearcats will play their final AMC road game of the 2009-10 regular season Thursday at Williams Baptist College. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. in Walnut Ridge, Ark. McKendree will close out the regular season next Saturday, Feb. 27 at home against Park University.
-McK-
