Box Score
BOX SCORE

(LEBANON, Ill., Dec. 16)—The McKendree University men's basketball team made 13 of its final 15 free throw attempts in the last six minutes of play as the Bearcats rallied for a 66-64 victory Friday night at home against the University of Illinois Springfield.
 
Junior guard John Steppe (Effingham, IL/St. Anthony) (Effingham, Ill./St. Anthony) led McKendree with 18 points, four assists and four steals, while senior guard Karrington Pettiford (Florissant, MO/Christian Brothers) (Florissant, Mo./Christian Brothers) chipped in with 15 points as the Bearcats notched their third win in four outings. McKendree trailed by as many as nine points before rallying for the win.
 
McKendree closes the first half of its 2011-12 season with a record of 9-6. The Bearcats will take a two-week break before returning to action Jan. 3 at the Bahama House Shootout in Daytona Beach, Fla. McKendree will take on Voorhees College in a contest scheduled for a 5 p.m. ET tip-off. The game will mark the first of a four-game stay in Florida.
 
Illinois Springfield (2-7) battled its way to a 35-31 halftime lead, and stretched the margin to 51-452 with 10:19 to play. Steppe hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to six, then scored on a driving lay-up two possessions later to bring the Bearcats within 51-47 with just over nine minutes left. The Prairie Stars eventually regained a seven-point advantage before an 8-1 run allowed McKendree to tie the contest at 55-55 with 2:24 on the clock. Senior forward Sean Rakers (New Baden, IL/Wesclin) (New Baden, Ill./Wesclin) scored the last three points of the spurt from the free throw line for the Bearcats.
 
After Illinois Springfield regained the lead one final time, senior guard Kyle Heckert (Venedy, IL/Okawville) (Venedy, Ill./Okawville) gave McKendree the lead for good by hitting four foul shots in a 20-second span, pushing the Bearcats in front 59-57 at the 1:18 mark. Following a missed three-pointer by the Prairie Stars, Pettiford extended the advantage to four on a driving lay-up with 41.3 seconds remaining. Illinois Springfield pulled within one point on two different occasions in the closing moments, including at 65-64 on a three-pointer from Kyle Gupton with 11 seconds to go.
 
Pettiford was fouled on the inbounds play, and sank one of two free throws to push McKendree back out to a two-point lead. The Prairie Stars had one last possession, but could not get the potential game-tying shot away before time expired.
 
McKendree led by as many as nine points in the first half, taking a 17-8 lead with 12:20 remaining in the period thanks in part to a 15-3 run. Illinois Springfield chipped away at the deficit, using an 11-2 run of its own to grab a 26-22 lead with just under six minutes left in the period.
 
Michael Fakuade led all players with 19 points and 14 rebounds for Illinois Springfield. Gupton finished with 13 points while Jermaine Love-Roberts came off the bench to post 12 points for the Prairie Stars.
 
Friday's contest marked the first meeting between McKendree and Illinois Springfield since the regular-season finale during the 2008-09 season. In that contest, the Bearcats registered an 80-69 win in Springfield to claim the American Midwest Conference championship. McKendree and Illinois Springfield will meet again next season as members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.