Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., January 5)—Sophomore guard Mike DiGregorio (Morton Grove, IL/Niles Notre Dame) came through in the clutch Saturday to lead the McKendree University men's basketball team to its first victory as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, a 67-59 home win over Quincy University.
 
DiGregorio, who scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, hit all eight of his free throw attempts in the final 37 seconds of play to help the Bearcats pull away down the stretch. DiGregorio was a perfect 11-for-11 from the foul line in leading McKendree to its historic victory. The Bearcats improve to 7-5 on the year and 1-1 in the GLVC. McKendree will return to conference play Thursday at Maryville University in St. Louis. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
Senior forward John Steppe (Effingham, IL/St. Anthony) paced McKendree with 22 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Steppe and DiGregorio shared team-high rebounding honors with six apiece. Freshman forward Matt Murphy (Jerseyville, IL/Jersey Community) added 14 points, including a three-pointer that opened up a four-point lead for the Bearcats with less than two minutes remaining. Junior guard Clinton Happe (Evansville, IN/F.J. Reitz) rounded out the list of double-digit scorers for McKendree with 12 points.
 
“This was a great win for our program,” said McKendree head coach Harry Statham, who picked up career win No. 1,068 on Saturday. “There were times where it looked like (Quincy) wanted to pull away, but our guys kept battling. We hit some big shots down the stretch and Mike was clutch at the free throw line to help us.”
 
McKendree trailed 32-26 at the half and faced a 10-point deficit in the early stages of the second half. But the Bearcats were able to take control late, outscoring the visiting Hawks 18-7 over the final 3:09 of play.
 
With 13:33 on the clock, Quincy's Dalton Hoover scored on a lay-up to give the Hawks a 42-32 advantage. A driving lay-up by Steppe on the Bearcats' next possession sparked a 7-0 run that helped McKendree pull within 42-39 with just over 11 minutes to play. Quincy was able to hold onto the lead for the next few minutes as the Bearcats continued to chip away. But another lay-up by Steppe at the 8:35 mark knotted the score at 45-45.
 
McKendree took its first lead of the half at 49-48 when Steppe drove the lane yet again and scored with 6:36 to play. Quincy regained the lead twice more before DiGregorio drilled a three-pointer with 3:09 left to give the Bearcats the lead for good at 54-52. Following a Hawks' free throw to cut the deficit to one point, Murphy stepped out and hit a three-point shot at the 1:56 mark to stretch the McKendree lead to 57-53.
 
The teams traded baskets before DiGregorio was fouled with 37 seconds remaining. He made both ends of the bonus, starting his game-ending run from the charity stripe. In all, DiGregorio scored the Bearcats' final 10 points of the contest.
 
McKendree opened the game on a 16-8 run, which was fueled by a trio of three-pointers from Murphy. Quincy tied the game with an 8-0 spurt before the Bearcats regained a three-point advantage at 19-16. The Hawks then scored eight of the next 10 points to grab the lead late in the first half and take their six-point advantage at the break.
 
Chris Babbitt paced Quincy (6-5, 1-2 GLVC) with 16 points, while Scott Hahn scored eight of his 10 points in the first half for the Hawks.
 
Saturday's game marked the first meeting between McKendree and Quincy since the 1976-77 season.