Box Score (WILBERFORCE, Ohio, Dec. 16)—The McKendree University men's basketball team reeled off 14 consecutive points during a key five-minute stretch late in the contest to register a 69-59 victory Tuesday evening at Central State University.
 
Sophomore guard Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) scored a career-high 18 points while senior forward Logan Carson (DuQuoin, IL/DuQuoin) netted 13 of his 17 points in the second half as the Bearcats overcame a six-point deficit with less than six minutes to play to record the non-conference victory. McKendree heads into the holiday break with an overall record of 6-1. The Bearcats will return to action on Jan. 2 when they open their Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule at Maryville University.
 
Junior guard A.J. Schmidt (New Albany, IN/New Albany) dished out a career-best eight assists without a turnover in running the point for McKendree, while Jackson and senior forward Arthur Williams (Cairo, IL/Cairo) each collected three steals versus the Marauders.
 
Central State held a 31-27 lead at the intermission, but McKendree battled back and grabbed its first lead of the second half at 46-44 on a lay-up and free throw by senior forward Matt Holmes (Houston, TX/Marshall) with 11:49 remaining. The host Marauders quickly tied the contest and regained a 57-51 advantage with just over six minutes to play when the Bearcats put together their decisive run.
 
Carson scored six straight points – all from the free throw line – to knot the score for the final time at 57-57. Jackson then collected a steal on Central State's next possession and was fouled on a driving lay-up attempt. He sank both foul shots to push McKendree out to a 59-57 advantage with 4:13 on the clock. Back-to-back lay-ups by Carson and a 15-foot jumper from Schmidt at the 1:26 mark capped the burst to give the Bearcats a 65-57 lead.
 
After a Central State basket,  Williams missed a shot but grabbed the rebound and scored on a putback to extend the McKendree lead back to eight points. Jackson put the exclamation point on the come-from-behind victory thanks to a lay-up with 39.8 seconds remaining.
 
McKendree shot 54.2 percent in the second half (13-of-24) and 52 percent for the contest. The Bearcats held a 32-27 edge in rebounding against Central State.
 
In the first half, McKendree built an early lead before the Marauders used a 7-2 run to forge a 17-12 advantage. Central State led by as many as eight points in the opening period before baskets on their final two possessions helped the Bearcats rally within four points at the break.
 
Antone Byrd came off the bench to lead Central State (6-5) with 17 points. Jeremy Brown added 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Marauders, who had a modest two-game win streak stopped with the loss.