Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., Dec. 10)—Junior forward
Brandon Book (Albers, IL/Breese Central) had the hot hand from outside in leading the McKendree University men's basketball team to a 79-75 victory Wednesday night at home against Greenville College.
Book poured in a McKendree career-high 30 points, which included eight three-point field goals, to help the Bearcats hold off a late challenge from the visiting Panthers. Thanks in part to Book's heroics, McKendree is off to its first 5-0 start since the 2009-10 season.
Senior forward
Logan Carson (DuQuoin, IL/DuQuoin) added 13 points in the win for McKendree, while junior guard
John Murphy (Peoria, IL/Richwoods) was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range and finished with 12 points. Senior forward
Matt Holmes (Houston, TX/Marshall) contributed 10 points and a team-leading seven rebounds for the Bearcats. As a team, McKendree hit a season-best 13 shots from three-point range, going 13-for-24 in the process.
After leading 36-35 at the half, McKendree used a 10-2 run to build its first double-digit lead of the night at 49-39 with 15:02 to play. Book opened the run with a three-pointer before sophomore guard
Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) capped the burst with a driving lay-up. Greenville chipped away at the deficit and pulled within five points when the Bearcats scored eight of 10 points to push their advantage to 71-60 with just under four minutes on the clock.
Greenville (5-4) then limited McKendree to just one field goal over the next three minutes to rally once again. A 12-3 run helped the Panthers pull within 74-72 with 1:04 remaining. Carson missed a jumper on the Bearcats' next possession, but junior guard
A.J. Schmidt (New Albany, IN/New Albany) collected an offensive rebound with 40 seconds left. McKendree eventually worked the ball to Jackson, who fed Carson down the lane and scored on a dunk with 21 seconds on the clock. Carson was fouled and made the free throw, giving the Bearcats a 77-72 advantage.
A three-pointer by Greenville's Ron Harris trimmed the Panthers' deficit back to just two points with 7.8 seconds remaining. Book was fouled on the inbounds play and hit two free throws with 3.1 seconds left to extend the lead back to four points for McKendree. Greenville came up short on one final three-point attempt as the Bearcats held on for the win.
McKendree scored the first six points of the contest before an 11-2 run gave Greenville its first lead of the night at 11-8. The Bearcats quickly recovered and reclaimed the lead midway through the period, taking its biggest lead of the half at 32-25 following a lay-up by Book at the 4:38 mark.
Book became the first McKendree player to hit eight three-pointers in a game since Eric Hobbie reached the mark in the 2010 American Midwest Conference championship game at the Statham Center against Park University. Book is also the first McKendree player to reach the 30-point mark in a game since
Mike DiGregorio (Morton Grove, IL/Niles Notre Dame) had 30 in a home win over Missouri S & T back on Feb. 8, 2014.
Harris led Greenville with 19 points, while Brian Ehresman helped out with 16 points and a game-high seven assists. Andrew Scott collected 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Panthers, who had a three-game win streak snapped with the loss.
Wednesday's game marked the first meeting between McKendree and Greenville since 2007.
