GAME DAY LINKS -- 
McKENDREE at SOUTHERN INDIANA -- Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, 7:30 p.m. -- Physical Activities Center, Evansville, Ind.
LISTEN LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network) | LIVE VIDEO (GLVC Sports Network) | LIVE STATS

McKENDREE at BELLARMINE -- Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015, 3:15 p.m. ET -- Alumni Hall, Louisville, Ky.
LISTEN LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network) | WATCH LIVE (ESPN3 or WATCH ESPN) | LIVE STATS

(LEBANON, Ill., Dec. 3)--The McKendree University men's basketball team will take its 4-0 record out on the road this weekend to open the Great Lakes Valley Conference portion of its 2015-16 schedule. The Bearcats will visit Evansville, Ind., on Thursday to start league play at the University of Southern Indiana before heading to Louisville, Ky., on Saturday for a meeting against Bellarmine University. The Bellarmine contest will air live globally on ESPN3 and the WATCHESPN app. Click HERE to access the live broadcast when the contest tips off.

McKendree played three games in a span of five days last week, winning all three to remain perfect on the season. The Bearcats last took the court on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., where they held off a late charge from host Trevecca Nazarene University to post an 86-80 win. Senior forward Brandon Book (Albers, IL/Breese Central) showed the way by posting a double-double with a team-high 20 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Book shared team-high rebounding honors with senior forward John Murphy (Peoria, IL/Richwoods). Junior guard David Franklin (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) chipped in with 18 points and four assists, while junior guard Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) netted 13 points in the effort. Freshman guard Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) also reached double figures in the scoring column for McKendree with 12 points. The Bearcats trailed by 12 points early but surged to an 11-point lead at the half and stretched the margin against the Trojans to 14 points early in the second half. Trevecca Nazarene tied the game in the closing minutes before the Bearcats pulled away down the stretch. McKendree made 20-of-22 free throws attempts in the victory, including a 14-of-15 effort from the stripe in the final 20 minutes of play. 

Six different McKendree players are averaging in double figures through the first four games. Jackson leads the balanced attack at 16.8 points per contest, while Book is close behind at 16.3 points per outing. Franklin is connecting for 15.5 points a game, and junior forward Darin Winkelman (Steeleville, IL/Steeleville) is next at 13.3 points per night. The Bearcats lead the GLVC in five different statistical categories, including scoring offense (96.5 PPG), field goal percentage (.514) and scoring margin (+18.0 PPG). 

Southern Indiana brings a 4-2 record into Thursday's contest with McKendree. The Screaming Eagles split a pair of games over the weekend at their own Bill Joergens Memorial Classic, defeating Ohio Valley University on Friday, 85-65, before suffering an 86-69 setback to Midwestern State University in the finale of the classic on Saturday. Freshman guard Alex Stein leads USI in scoring at 16.7 points per game, and is followed closely by junior guard Jeril Taylor at 16.3 points per outing. Stein is shooting 55.8 percent from the field and 82.9 percent from the free throw line. Taylor is also the Screaming Eagles' top rebounder at 8.8 boards per game and leads the squad in steals with 10. Senior forward George Edwards -- who is averaging 13.8 points per game -- leads Southern Indiana by connecting on 67.3 percent of his shots from the field. 

In the only meeting between the two programs in 2014-15, McKendree rode a 35-point performance from Logan Carson (DuQuoin, IL/DuQuoin) to an 88-82 win over Southern Indiana on Jan. 29, 2015 at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. It marked the Bearcats' first home win over the Screaming Eagles since the 1973-74 season, as well as McKendree's first triumph over USI since becoming members of the GLVC prior to the 2012-13 season. 

Like Southern Indiana, Bellarmine enters the weekend with a 4-2 overall record. The Knights will host the University of Illinois Springfield on Thursday before McKendree comes to town. Bellarmine participated in USI's Joergens Memorial Classic over last weekend, and took one of two games. The Knights lost to Midwestern State on Friday, 77-71, before bouncing back with an 84-66 win over Ohio Valley on Saturday. Junior guard Rusty Troutman shows the way for Bellarmine, averaging 21.2 points per game, a figure that ranks second among all GLVC players. Troutman is shooting 58.2 percent from the floor, including a 53.6 percent clip from three-point range. He is also an 85 percent shooter from the free throw line. Senior forward Yasin Kolo leads the Knights in rebounding at 6.8 boards per game. 

The Knights defeated the Bearcats 82-63 in the lone meeting between the two teams last year at the Statham Center on Jan. 31, 2015. Matt Holmes (Houston, TX/Marshall) paced McKendree in that match-up with 28 points and eight rebounds. 

Following the two-game GLVC road swing, McKendree returns to the Statham Center for its next three contests. The Bearcats will open up the final homestand of 2015 by entertaining Central Christian College on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.