Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 29)—Senior forward
Logan Carson (DuQuoin, IL/DuQuoin) continued his hot shooting at home in the month of January in leading the McKendree University men's basketball team to an 88-82 victory Thursday night in Great Lakes Valley Conference play over the University of Southern Indiana.
Carson poured in a career-high 35 points, 24 of which came in the second half, as the Bearcats snapped a five-game losing streak. Carson also connected for a career-best seven three-pointers while going 8-for-8 from the free throw line. McKendree improves to 9-9 overall and 2-8 in the GLVC. The Bearcats will play host to No. 6-ranked Bellarmine University Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Thursday's effort marks the second straight home game in which Carson netted a career-best in points as he scored 34 the last time the Bearcats took the floor at the Statham Center back on Jan. 13 against Salem International University. In three of McKendree's four home contests in the month of January, Carson has topped the 25-point mark, adding a 27-point performance against Truman State University back on Jan. 8.
The win also gave McKendree its first home victory over Southern Indiana since the 1973-74 season, when the Bearcats registered an 88-77 triumph over USI (then known as Indiana State University-Evansville) at the old Bearcat Gym. The win is also the first for McKendree over Southern Indiana since the Bearcats joined the GLVC prior to the 2012-13 season.
Senior forward
Matt Holmes (Houston, TX/Marshall) chipped in with 13 points and a team-leading six rebounds for McKendree, while sophomore guard
Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) and junior center
David Newton (Rochelle, IL/Rochelle) each scored 12 points. For Newton, the 12 points also represents a career-high in the scoring column.
As a team, McKendree shot 63 percent from the field, including a 68.2 percent clip (15-of-22) in the first half. The Bearcats were also 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) from three-point range. McKendree never trailed in the second half, leading by as many as 11 points midway through the final period.
Southern Indiana led until the midway point of the first half, when McKendree reeled off seven consecutive points to grab its first lead of the night at 24-23. Junior guard
A.J. Schmidt (New Albany, IN/New Albany) capped the run with a three-pointer at the 8:19 mark of the period. The Screaming Eagles clawed their way back in front until the closing moments of the half, when a lay-up from Holmes and a three-pointer from Carson pushed the Bearcats in front by a 40-36 margin at the intermission.
In the early stages of the second half, Southern Indiana was able to fight back within a point at 44-43 before McKendree was able to get some breathing room thanks to a 9-2 burst to build a 53-45 advantage with 16:29 to play. A hook shot in the lane from Newton gave the Bearcats their largest lead of the night at 63-52 with 11:38 remaining. The Screaming Eagles battled back to as close as five points on two different occasions down the stretch, the last coming at 80-75 with 1:27 on the clock, but McKendree was able to seal the win at the foul line, hitting eight of their final nine attempts from the stripe in the final minute.
Gavin Schumann paced Southern Indiana (12-6, 5-5 GLVC) with 23 points and five assists. George Edwards came off the bench to add 20 points and seven rebounds for the Screaming Eagles, who have lost four of their last five outings.
