(KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 18)—The McKendree University men's basketball team saw its 2010-11 season come to a close with a 77-59 loss Friday afternoon against Georgetown College (Ky.) in the second round of the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship. The 32-team tournament is being held at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
The Bearcats grabbed a lead late in the first half, but Georgetown, the No. 7 seed in the tournament field, limited McKendree to just 26.5 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes to pull away for the victory. The loss ends the Bearcats' season with a record of 21-13. After starting the season at 3-8, McKendree won 18 of 22 games prior to Friday's loss.
“They are a very good club,” said McKendree head coach Harry Statham of Georgetown following the contest. “They are quick, they have good size and they know what they're doing out there. We got behind by 10 (in the first half) but really made a push. We survived that first wave. But in the second half they came on stronger and we didn't shoot it as well. We never got in sync.”
Senior forward Eric Hobbie (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) closed out his career by leading McKendree with 20 points. He shared team-high rebounding honors with fellow senior Brad Copelin (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon). Both Hobbie and Copelin reached the 1,000-point mark during the Bearcat careers. Hobbie is eighth on McKendree's all-time scoring list with 1,938 points, while Copelin – who scored four points against Georgetown -- sits in 28th place at 1,304 points.
Senior guard Andy Wolff (Centralia, Ill./Metro-East Lutheran) (Centralia, Ill./Metro East Lutheran) also scored in double figures with 10 points while adding five rebounds and a team-high five assists. Wolff, who registered 938 career points, became the Bearcats' all-time leader in assists, and extended his record to 554 assists.
McKendree battled Georgetown to a 9-9 tie in the opening minutes before the Tigers reeled off 10 consecutive points to grab a 19-9 advantage with 9:44 remaining in the half. The Bearcats responded by outscoring Georgetown 14-4 over the next four minutes to knot the score at 23-23. Sophomore forward David Ruckman (Freeburg, IL/Freeburg) (Freeburg, Ill./Freeburg) had nine of his 11 points for the Bearcats during the stretch, including a putback with 5:45 on the clock to tie the contest.
Just under a minute later, Hobbie drilled a three-pointer to give McKendree a 26-25 lead. After the Tigers quickly regained the lead, Hobbie sank another three-point shot to build a 29-27 advantage for the Bearcats at the 3:30 mark.
The teams traded baskets and leads before Georgetown netted the final five points of the period and took a 37-33 lead at the intermission. The Tigers then scored the first six points of the second half to stretch its lead to double digits at 43-33. McKendree looked to battle back, but the closest the Bearcats would come the rest of the game would be at 52-43 on a pair of free throws from Copelin with 13:06 left. Georgetown followed with a 13-2 run to the put the contest out of reach, 65-45, midway through the second half.
Maurice Pearson led the Tigers with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Vic Moses registered 16 points and seven rebounds. Georgetown improves to 31-4 overall and will meet Concordia University (Calif.) in Saturday's NAIA quarterfinal round at 4 p.m.
This was McKendree's 15th and final appearance at the NAIA Division I Tournament as the athletics program will continue its transition toward NCAA Division II membership.
