(SPRINGFIELD, Mo., November 3)—The McKendree University men's basketball team dropped an 82-54 decision at Missouri State University Saturday night in the Bearcats' lone exhibition contest of the 2012-13 pre-season.
 
The host Bears opened the game on a 21-5 run and never looked back in posting the victory. McKendree will have a week off to prepare for its regular-season opener next Saturday (Nov. 10) against Tiffin University at the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover Challenge in St. Louis.
 
Sophomore guard Mike DiGregorio (Morton Grove, IL/Niles Notre Dame) led all scorers with 20 points for McKendree. Junior guard Clinton Happe (Evansville, IN/F.J. Reitz) chipped in with 12 points and three assists, while senior forward David Ruckman (Freeburg, IL/Freeburg) netted eight points. Senior guard John Steppe (Effingham, IL/St. Anthony) and junior forward Josh Ramsey (O'Fallon, IL/Valley Park) each pulled down a team-high five rebounds against Missouri State, with Steppe adding four assists in the effort.
 
Missouri State scored the first 12 points of the game, and held McKendree without a point for nearly six minutes. The Bears opened up a 24-point lead in the period and held a 39-17 lead at the intermission. McKendree looked to keep pace with Missouri State in the early stages of the second half and used a 7-0 run to pull within 56-39 with 9:39 remaining. Four different players scored during the burst for the Bearcats as Happe capped the run on a three-pointer off a pass from freshman guard A.J. Schmidt (New Albany, IN/New Albany).
 
That was as close as McKendree would get as Missouri State scored the next five points and held the Bearcats at bay for the remainder of the contest.
 
Gavin Thurman came off the bench to net a team-high 18 points for Missouri State, while Marcus Marshall added 15 points in a reserve role.
 
Saturday's game was the first for McKendree against an NCAA Division I opponent in nearly 12 years. The Bearcats were defeated at Eastern Illinois University 101-77 back on Nov. 29, 2000.