Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 14)—The McKendree University men's basketball team used a big second half to post a 74-45 victory over visiting Robert Morris University-Springfield on Friday evening in the 2014-15 season opener for the Bearcats at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.
McKendree opened up a 27-18 halftime lead by shooting 60 percent from the field (18-of-30) over the final 20 minutes of play to collect the non-conference win. The Bearcats also put the clamps down defensively on the Eagles, limiting Robert Morris-Springfield to just 30.2 percent shooting (16-of-53) for the contest.
On Monday, McKendree will be in Chicago for an exhibition game against NCAA Division I Loyola University. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard live on the Bearcat Sports Network at
www.mckbearcats.com/watch.
Four different players scored in double figures for McKendree, led by junior forward
Brandon Book (Albers, IL/Breese Central) with 16 points. Book hit four three-point shots while adding eight rebounds. Senior forward
Matt Holmes (Houston, TX/Marshall) contributed 12 points and seven rebounds in the win for McKendree. Senior guard
Logan Carson (DuQuoin, IL/DuQuoin) and junior guard
Chad McDowell (Louisville, KY/Pleasure Ridge Park) each connected for 11 points as Carson narrowly missed a double-double with a team-high nine rebounds for the Bearcats.
Both teams got off to a slow start in Friday's contest as McKendree broke the scoring drought at the 16:39 mark when Book scored on a lay-up. The Bearcats built a 6-0 advantage before Robert Morris-Springfield scored its first points of the night with 13:17 left in the period. McKendree eventually pushed its margin to 17-8 on a three-pointer in the corner by Book with just under seven minutes remaining until the intermission. Meanwhile, the Bearcats held the Eagles to just 29.2 percent shooting (7-of-24) in the opening 20 minutes in taking a 27-18 lead at the break.
McKendree put together a decisive run to start the second half, opening with a 16-2 run to build a 43-20 lead with just under 15 minutes to play. Carson hit two free throws at the 5:03 mark to give the Bearcats their first 30-point lead of the night at 61-31. The largest lead for McKendree came at 74-40 thanks to a dunk by McDowell off a pass from sophomore guard
Kyle Yates (Bethalto, IL/Civic Memorial) with just 1:13 remaining.
Reid David scored 10 of his team-high 13 points in the final four minutes to lead the way for Robert Morris-Springfield (2-2). Jordan Maxwell added 11 points, five rebounds and a game-high five steals for the Eagles.
Following the Loyola-Chicago exhibition game, McKendree will return to regular-season action on Nov. 26 with a home game against Robert Morris University-Peoria.
