McKENDREE GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE vs. SOUTHERN INDIANA -- Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015 -- 7:30 p.m.
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McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
SOUTHERN INDIANA SEASON STATISTICS

McKENDREE vs. BELLARMINE -- Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015 -- 3 p.m.
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McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
BELLARMINE SEASON STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 28)--After wrapping up a season-long five-game road trip last weekend, the McKendree University men's basketball team will return to the friendly confines of the Harry M. Statham Sports Center to host a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference opponents. The Bearcats will open the stretch on Thursday by entertaining the University of Southern Indiana in a 7:30 p.m. contest. McKendree will close out its brief stay at home when Bellarmine University comes to Lebanon for a 3 p.m. battle on Saturday.

McKendree will look to get back on the winning track following a 70-63 loss on Saturday at Saint Joseph's College. Logan Carson (DuQuoin, IL/DuQuoin) led the balanced attack for the Bearcats with 14 points and four assists while adding seven rebounds. Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) and John Murphy (Peoria, IL/Richwoods) each chipped in with 11 points, while David Newton (Rochelle, IL/Rochelle) registered career-high totals of nine points and 14 rebounds. McKendree enters the week with an overall record of 8-9 while holding a 1-8 mark in GLVC play. 

Four Bearcats are averaging double figures in the scoring column. Although sidelined since Jan. 10, Brandon Book (Albers, IL/Breese Central) paces the team at 15.2 points per outing. Carson is next at 14.9 points per game, while Matt Holmes (Houston, TX/Marshall) sits third on the squad at 12.4 points per contest. Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) has boosted his season scoring average to 12.2 points a game, thanks in large part to a career-high 21 points last Thursday at the University of Indianapolis. Holmes tops McKendree -- and sits sixth in the GLVC -- in rebounding at 7.6 per game. 

Beginning with Thursday's game against Southern Indiana, McKendree will play seven of its final nine regular season game at home. The final road trip for the Bearcats will come next weekend when they visit Missouri S & T and Drury University for the first time since joining the GLVC in 2012-13. McKendree boasts a 6-2 record this season at the Statham Center, where they have won 82 percent of their games since moving into the facility prior to the 1988-89 season. 

ABOUT SOUTHERN INDIANA
The Screaming Eagles are 12-5 overall, but just 5-4 in the GLVC this season. Southern Indiana snapped a season-long three-game losing streak last Saturday with a 64-60 win at home against Lewis University. Head coach Rodney Watson has plenty of offensive firepower to choose from, with senior guard Gavin Schumann leading the way. Schumann is fourth in the league in scoring at 18.8 points per contest. Junior forward George Edwards is posting 14.9 points and a team-leading 8.1 rebounds per outing, a figure that is fifth among all GLVC players. As a team, the Screaming Eagles are shooting a league-best 76.1 percent from the free throw line. 

Southern Indiana will have a familiar face for McKendree fans on the bench when the team comes to Lebanon. Clinton Happe (Evansville, IN/F.J. Reitz), who wrapped up a stellar four-year career with the Bearcats last season, has joined the Screaming Eagles' staff as a graduate assistant coach. Happe, a two-year starter, finished his McKendree playing days with 1,159 points and ranks among the program's all-time leaders in free throw percentage and three-point field goal percentage. Happe also led the GLVC in minutes played in each of the previous two seasons, and topped the conference in free throw percentage (.876) a year ago. 

Over the last five years, Southern Indiana has taken all four meetings against McKendree. The teams have met just once at the Statham Center in that span, a 78-68 victory for the Screaming Eagles on Feb. 2, 2013. 

ABOUT BELLARMINE
The Knights come into the week's action ranked No. 6 in the latest NABC/NCAA Division II coaches' poll. Bellarmine is 16-2 overall and 8-1 in the GLVC entering its game on Thursday at the University of Illinois Springfield. Both of the Knights' losses this season have come against top five programs, which were ranked No. 3 at the time of the game -- a 101-96 setback in December at home against Florida Southern and a 66-62 loss two weeks ago at GLVC rival Indianapolis, which now holds the top spot in the rankings. The high-octane offense for Bellarmine is averaging just over 80 points per game while the team has connected on nearly 52 percent of its field goal attempts. 

Head coach Scott Davenport, who led Bellarmine to the NCAA Division II national championship back in 2010-11, has all five of his starters averaging at least nine points per game. Senior forward Jake Thelen is one of the top all-around players in the league as he averages a double-double at 17 points and 10.6 rebounds per outing. Thelen is third in the conference in field goal percentage at .653, Sophomore forward Josh Derksen is next at 12.3 points a game while shooting nearly 83 percent from the foul line. 

The Knights have won all three meetings versus the Bearcats since McKendree joined the GLVC in 2012-13. The teams met once a year ago, with Bellarmine recording a 97-77 win over McKendree on Jan. 30, 2014.