GAME DAY LINKS -- 
McKENDREE vs. WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE -- Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, 7:30 p.m.
Harry M. Statham Sports Center, Lebanon, Ill.
WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network) | LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE SEASON STATISTICS

McKENDREE vs. LEWIS -- Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, 3 p.m.
Harry M. Statham Sports Center, Lebanon, Ill.
WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network) | LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
LEWIS SEASON STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 27)--The McKendree University men's basketball team tips off the second half of its 2016 Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule this weekend by hosting a pair of foes from the north. The Bearcats will first take on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. before wrapping up the weekend against Lewis University Saturday at 3 p.m. Both games can be seen live on the Bearcat Sports Network at www.mckbearcats.com/watch. 

McKendree enters Thursday's contest against UW-Parkside, the No. 21-ranked team in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, with a 9-8 overall record and a 2-7 mark in league play. The Bearcats dropped a pair of hard-fought games last week in Indiana as they were defeated last Thursday at Saint Joseph's College, 79-73, before being edged in a 78-75 heartbreaker at the University of Indianapolis. In both games, McKendree held the halftime lead and was in front of both opponents with less than five minutes to play. It took a three-point shot by UIndy's Jordan Loyd with 1.3 seconds on the clock to break a 75-75 tie in the Bearcats' most recent outing. 

Against Indianapolis, David Franklin (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) posted a game-high 25 points to lead McKendree in the scoring column. Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) added 16 points while Darin Winkelman (Steeleville, IL/Steeleville) chipped in with 16 points. Franklin continues to rank among the top scorers in the conference. He is fourth in the league at 18.1 points per game, while he sits 10th in the GLVC in rebounding at 7.8 per outing. Franklin sits in the top 10 in the GLVC in five different statistical categories. Michael is 10th in the conference in free throw percentage at .852, while Winkelman is 10th among all GLVC players in defensive rebounds. 

The contest at Indianapolis also marked McKendree's final true road swing of the 2015-16 season. Beginning with Thursday's game against UW-Parkside, the Bearcats will play seven of their final nine regular-season tilts in the friendly confines of the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. After facing Lewis on Saturday, McKendree will make the short trip twice to St. Louis next week for games at the University of Missouri-St. Louis next Thursday (Feb. 4) and at Maryville University a week from Saturday (Feb. 6). The Bearcats will close the regular-season campaign with a five-game home stand. 

Head coach Harry Statham enters the weekend with 1,097 career victories at McKendree. Statham is one win shy of the all-time mark for college basketball victories at the four-year level -- men's or women's, all divisions -- which was established by former University of Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt. She retired with 1,098 career triumphs following the 2011-12 season. 

ABOUT WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE
The Rangers come to Lebanon as one of the hottest teams in the GLVC. UW-Parkside brings a 15-2 overall record into Thursday's game, and owns the league's longest active win streak at 11 games. The Rangers are tied atop the GLVC East Division standings at 8-1. The team is coming off three closely-contested home wins last week, including an 85-82 overtime decision last week against then-No. 6 Bellarmine University and a 70-67 win against the University of Southern Indiana. 

Senior guard Andy Mazurczak is sixth in the GLVC in scoring at 17.5 points per game. He is also third in the league in free throw percentage at .885 and sits just outside the conference's top 10 in assists per contest at 3.7. Junior center Goran Zagorac sits fourth in the GLVC in rebounding at 8.1 caroms per game. Junior guard Alexander Brown (14.1 PPG) and sophomore guard Kendale McCullum (12.9 PPG) are the other Ranger starters averaging in double figures. 

UW-Parkside has taken all seven meetings against McKendree on the basketball court since 1966-67. The teams played twice a year ago, and the Rangers posted victories of 90-63 on Jan. 17, 2015 in Somers, Wis., and 80-64 on Feb. 19, 2015 at the Statham Center. 

ABOUT LEWIS
The Flyers are 13-6 overall and 5-4 in the GLVC heading into their Thursday night match-up at the University of Illinois Springfield. Lewis has dropped two of its last three outings, including a 69-65 setback to Bellarmine on Saturday at Neil Carey Arena in Romeoville, Ill. The Flyers have shown consistency throughout the 2015-16, posting identical 6-3 records in both home and road games (along with an 89-86 neutral-site win over Davis and Elkins College back in November). 

Sophomore guard Max Strus has blossomed into one of the top all-around players in the GLVC. Strus leads the conference in scoring at 21.7 points per game and is second in rebounding at 8.9 per contest. He is also tied for the team lead with 64 assists and is third in blocked shots with 15. Strus set a new Lewis program record earlier in the season with a 52-point outburst in a victory over Northwood University in late November and tied a GLVC scoring record in the process. He sank 12 three-pointers in the effort. Senior center Kyle Nelson (11.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG, .556 FG percentage) and freshman swingman Delaney Blaylock (11.2 PPG) are also among the top performers this season for Lewis.

The Flyers have won seven of the previous eight match-ups with the Bearcats, including a pair during the 2014-15 season. Lewis notched a 97-70 win in Romeoville on Jan. 15, 2015 before taking home a 98-70 triumph from the Statham Center on Feb. 21, 2015.