Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 9)—The McKendree University men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with No. 21-ranked Indianapolis on Saturday at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center, falling to the visiting Greyhounds by a score of 56-46.
 
Senior forward John Steppe (Effingham, IL/St. Anthony) registered a game-high 22 points as the Bearcats dropped their 11^th straight contest. McKendree moves to 7-16 overall and 1-12 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Bearcats will hit the road for their next two games, beginning with a Thursday contest at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Tip-off for the GLVC match-up is set for 7:30 p.m. in Somers, Wis.
 
After trailing 28-23 at the half, McKendree slowly chipped away at the deficit and pulled to within 37-36 following a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Mike DiGregorio (Morton Grove, IL/Niles Notre Dame) with 10:09 remaining. The Greyhounds managed to hold the lead, scoring the next seven points to build a 44-36 advantage with just under six minutes to play.
 
McKendree made one final run at Indianapolis, pulling to within 48-44 following a driving lay-up by junior guard Clinton Happe (Evansville, IN/F.J. Reitz) at the 3:58 mark. The Greyhounds scored on their next possession on a jumper by Leland Brown to stretch the lead back to six points. From there, Indianapolis was able to pull away in the closing minutes to complete the season sweep of the Bearcats.
 
In the first half, McKendree raced to a 7-2 lead before Indianapolis reeled off seven straight points to grab a 9-7 advantage. A three-pointer from freshman forward Brandon Drum (Peoria, IL/Dunlap) with 11:42 left in the half gave the Bearcats their final lead of the contest at 10-9. The Greyhounds responded with a 9-2 burst to regain an 18-12 lead at the 6:37 mark. McKendree battled back to within three points on two different occasions in the later stages of the half, the last coming at 26-23 on two free throws from Steppe with just under two minutes on the clock.
 
DiGregorio was the only other McKendree player to score in double figures with 10 points. DiGregorio also dished out a game-high five assists. Steppe grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, while freshman guard A.J. Schmidt (New Albany, IN/New Albany) collected six boards.
 
Both teams put the clamps down defensively in Saturday's contest. McKendree shot just 29.1 percent from the floor (16-of-55), while Indianapolis hit 39.3 percent of its field goal tries (22-of-56). The 46 points scored by the Bearcats marked a season-low, while Indianapolis produced its second-lowest scoring output of the season with its 56 points.
 
Brown finished with a team-high 21 points and added nine rebounds to pace Indianapolis, which improves to 17-4 overall and 9-4 in the GLVC. Reece Cheatham connected for 13 points, while James Hollowell matched Brown with nine rebounds for the Greyhounds, who enjoyed a 51-30 edge on the glass against McKendree.