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(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 19)--The McKendree University men's basketball team gets back to action following an eight-day layoff with with a pair of non-conference games this week against Lincoln University. 

The Bearcats will head to Jefferson City, Mo., on Wednesday for the first game of the home-and-home series, where they will take on the Blue Tigers in a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. McKendree and Lincoln will meet one more time four days later on Saturday at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. Saturday's contest is set to begin at 3 p.m.

McKendree is off to its first 2-0 start since the 2009-10 season. The Bearcats last played on Nov. 12 against Indiana Dabney University, with the Bearcats holding off the Lions to post a 100-85 victory. Junior guard Mike DiGregorio (Morton Grove, IL/Niles Notre Dame) poured in a career-high 28 points in the win, which included a 9-for-10 effort from the free throw line. Junior forward Arthur Williams (Cairo, IL/Cairo) posted a double-double with 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Junior forward Matt Holmes (Houston, TX/Marshall) also notched a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards, whle senior guard Clinton Happe (Evansville, IN/F.J. Reitz) netted 18 points.

Happe leads the Bearcats in scoring through two games at 18.5 points per game. Holmes and DiGregorio have each netted 18 points a contest, while Williams rounds out the list of double-digit scorers at 14 points per outing. McKendree is averaging 101 points through its first two games and is shooting 53.7 percent from the floor. 

Williams leads the Great Lakes Valley Conference in rebounding through the first two games of the 2013-14 season. Williams is pulling down 14 caroms per contest, and is only one of two players averaging in double figures in the rebounding column. Junior guard Mike Springs (Waukegan, IL/Waukegan) tops all GLVC players in assists with 14 and is averaging seven per outing. 

Lincoln comes into the week's play at 0-4 overall. The Blue Tigers have faced a pair of McKendree's GLVC foes heading into Wednesday's game. Lincoln dropped a 95-93 decision at home to Rockhurst University on Nov. 13 before falling to visiting Maryville University two days later in Jefferson City, 83-60. Junior forward Mike Smith leads the way for the Blue Tigers, averaging 17 points per game. Junior guard Clay Crouch is next at 14.8 points per outing, while junior guard Joshua Buie has contributed 13.8 points, 6.5 and 5.5 assists per contest.

This will be the second consecutive year that McKendree and Lincoln will square off twice in non-conference play. Each team won on its home court. The Blue Tigers won the first meeting 86-72 on Nov. 14, 2012 at Jason Gym in Jefferson City before the Bearcats returned the favor with an 82-74 triumph a week later -- Nov. 21 -- in Lebanon.