Box Score (ROLLA, Mo., Feb. 5)—The McKendree University men's basketball team was defeated Thursday night in a Great Lakes Valley Conference road contest at Missouri S & T, 85-72.
Sophomore guard
Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) registered career-high totals of 27 points and five steals as the Bearcats put together a rally in the closing minutes. McKendree cut a 22-point deficit with eight minutes remaining down to just nine points with 1:35 remaining, but the host Miners were able to hold off the challenge to collect its first win in 11 games.
McKendree moves to 9-11 overall and 2-10 in GLVC play. The Bearcats will play their final regular-season road game of the 2014-15 season on Saturday at Drury University. Tip-off is set for 3:15 p.m.
Missouri S & T, which never trailed in the contest, led by as many as 24 points and held a 72-50 advantage with 8:09 on the clock. McKendree slowly began to chip away at the deficit, then used a run of eight consecutive points to pull within 2:29 remaining. The teams traded free throws before Missouri S & T regained its composure and netted five consecutive points to build its lead back to 85-70 with just under a minute to play.
After trailing 44-31 at the half, McKendree scored the first five points of the second half to trim its deficit to 44-36, and eventually cut the margin to seven points moments later. The Miners responded by scoring nine points in a row to build a 55-39 lead with 15:59 on the clock.
Senior forward
Matt Holmes (Houston, TX/Marshall) posted a double-double for McKendree with 19 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Jackson added five rebounds in his effort. Senior forward
Logan Carson (DuQuoin, IL/DuQuoin) chipped in with nine points, while junior guard
A.J. Schmidt (New Albany, IN/New Albany) scored all seven of his points from the free throw line. Schmidt also collected three steals for the Bearcats.
Desmond Buerge scored a team-high 18 points and added seven rebounds, five blocked shots and four steals for Missouri S & T (9-11, 2-10 GLVC). Michael Nesbitt helped out with 16 points, while Danylo Zuikov dished out a game-high 13 assists for the Miners.
