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(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 27)--The McKendree University men's basketball team will wrap up its 2013-14 season Thursday by heading north to take on the University of Illinois Springfield. Tip-off for the Great Lakes Valley Conference contest is set for 7:30 p.m. The game can be heard live on the Bearcat Sports Network at www.mckbearcats.com/listenlive, with Scott Cummings handling the play-by-play duties and Austin Lagesse providing the analysis from The Recreation and Athletic Complex in Springfield, Ill.

McKendree saw its hopes to grab a GLVC Tournament spot fade with an 84-73 loss on Saturday at Lewis University. The Bearcats were hoping to grab one of the 12 spots available for the conference post-season event, which begins with first-round match-ups at campus sites on Sunday. McKendree will be looking to hit double digits in the win column for the year as it enters Thursday's game at UIS with an overall record of 9-16. The Bearcats are 3-14 in GLVC play.

While McKendree did not qualify for the GLVC Tournament, the Bearcats can play the role of spoiler at UIS. The Prairie Stars, who are 8-17 overall and 4-13 in the GLVC, are battling with Quincy University for the 12th and final spot in the post-season field. UIS needs a win, along with a loss by Quincy University, to secure its berth in the GLVC Tournament. 

It has been nearly five years to the day since McKendree made its last visit to Illinois Springfield. Back on Feb. 28, 2009, the Bearcats closed out a perfect run through the American Midwest Conference schedule with an 80-69 win over the Prairie Stars. McKendree has a 4-4 record all-time at UIS, while the Bearcats hold a 12-7 edge in the overall series against the Prairie Stars.

Back on Jan. 20, the teams met for the first time in 2013-14 and waged one of the more memoable battles in the 19 games of the series. McKendree trailed by 16 points with 9:55 to play in regulation before rallying to post a 102-100 overtime win at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. Clinton Happe (Evansville, IN/F.J. Reitz) capped the comeback by hitting a 25-foot jumper with 6.9 seconds left in the second half on a night where he scored his 1,000th career point. The Bearcats grabbed the lead early in the extra period, then survived a last-second three-point attempt at the buzzer to collect the win. Mike DiGregorio (Morton Grove, IL/Niles Notre Dame) established a new career-high in the game with 30 points, while Happe finished with 23 points. 

Heading into the season finale, Happe leads McKendree in scoring at 16.1 points per game. DiGregorio is close behind in second place at 15.8 points per contest. Happe, who sits in 38th place on the Bearcats' all-time scoring list at 1,159 points, is tied for the GLVC lead in free throw percentage at .876. He is tied with Brandon McCann of Rockhurst University. Junior forward Arthur Williams (Cairo, IL/Cairo) is averaging a team-best eight rebounds per game, while junior forward Matt Holmes (Houston, TX/Marshall) is next at 7.4 caroms per game. Junior guard Mike Springs (Waukegan, IL/Waukegan) has dished out a team-leading 85 assists, and is followed by Happe with 75 assists. 

Head coach Ben Wierzba is in his fourth season at Illinois Springfield. His Prairie Star squad has five players averaging in double figures, led by junior guard Jacob Williams at 13 points per game. Williams also paces the team with 17 blocked shots and is second in rebounding at 5.7 per contest. Senior guard Brandon Snowden averages 11.2 points per outing and is shooting nearly 73 percent from the free throw line. Snowden has contributed a team-leading 51 steals for UIS. Junior forward Dylan Sparkman, who had a team-high 27 points in the first meeting between the two schools, scores 10.3 points per game and leads the Prairie Stars in rebounding at 5.8 caroms per contest.