Box Score (SOMERS, Wis., Jan. 17)—The McKendree University men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday in Somers, Wis., before the host Rangers pulled away down the stretch for a 90-63 victory in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
The Bearcats trailed by just three points midway through the second half, but Wisconsin-Parkside – the No. 22-ranked team in NCAA Division II -- closed the contest on a 31-7 run to survive the upset bid from McKendree. With the loss, McKendree slips to 8-6 overall and is now 1-5 in the GLVC. The Bearcats will wrap up a stretch of four games in a six-day span on Monday when they travel north to take on the University of Illinois Springfield. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. in Springfield, Ill.
 
Senior forward Matt Holmes (Houston, TX/Marshall) led a balanced scoring attack for McKendree with 15 points to go along with a team-leading seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) connected for 14 points, while senior forward Logan Carson (DuQuoin, IL/DuQuoin) netted 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Junior guard John Murphy (Peoria, IL/Richwoods) contributed 12 points, five rebounds and a game-high four steals in the effort for the Bearcats.
 
After trailing 35-29 at the half, McKendree found itself facing a 53-41 deficit after Wisconsin-Parkside's Jimmy Gavin hit a three-pointer with just over 14 minutes to play. The Bearcats chipped away at the Rangers' lead and was able to pull within 57-50 after Jackson scored on a lay-up at the 11:28 mark.
 
Following a UW-Parkside basket, McKendree reeled off six consecutive points to trim its deficit even further. Muprhy capped the burst on a lay-up with 9:44 remaining to bring the Bearcats within 59-56.
 
From there, the host Rangers took control. UW-Parkside scored the next seven points following a media time out to build its lead back to double figures at 66-56. The Rangers put the game out of reach moments later, holding the Bearcats without a field goal for nearly five minutes while using a 12-0 run to stretch its margin to 81-60.
 
In the first half, the teams traded leads before a driving lay-up by sophomore guard Kyle Yates (Bethalto, IL/Civic Memorial) pushed McKendree out to an 11-9 lead. Wisconsin-Parkside battled back to reclaim the lead, but the Bearcats fought right back and took the lead two more times the period, the last coming at 23-22 on a three-pointer by junior guard A.J. Schmidt (New Albany, IN/New Albany) with 6:41 left until halftime.
 
The Rangers shot better than 61 percent from the field against McKendree, hitting 35-of-57 shots from the floor. UW-Parkside also held a 34-26 edge in rebounding for the contest.
 
Ziggy Riauka and Jimmy Gavin shared game-high scoring honors with 18 points each for Wisconsin-Parkside (14-1, 6-0 GLVC), which earned its 10^th straight victory in the outing. Riauka also had eight rebounds and six blocked shots to pace the Rangers.
 
McKendree and Wisconsin-Parkside will meet again on Feb. 19 at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon.