GAME HIGHLIGHTS
POST-GAME CELEBRATION -- WIN NO. 1,098 FOR COACH HARRY STATHAM
PHOTO GALLERY
(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 28)—The McKendree University men's basketball team picked up an important Great Lakes Valley Conference victory on many fronts Thursday evening at home with a 92-85 triumph over the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
The victory marks win No. 1,098 in the career of McKendree head coach
Harry Statham, which ties him with former University of Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt for the all-time wins record of any collegiate coach at the four-year level. Statham, who is in his 50
th season at the helm of the Bearcats' program, has a career record of 1,098-474. He is already the winningest men's college basketball coach in four-year history and was the first to reach 1,000 career victories.
McKendree, which moves to 10-8 overall and 3-7 in the GLVC, plays its next game Saturday afternoon at home against Lewis University in GLVC play. Tip-off at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center is set for 3 p.m.
Thursday's win was also the first for McKendree against a ranked opponent since making the transition to NCAA Division II membership in 2012-13. Wisconsin-Parkside, now 15-3 on the year and 8-2 in league play, had an 11-game win streak snapped in the contest. In addition, it was also the Bearcats' first-ever triumph in eight previous meetings against the Rangers dating back to the 1980-81 season.
Three different McKendree players topped the 20-point mark in the win. Junior guard
David Franklin (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) led the way with a game-high 33 points, which was just two points off his career-high of 35 set earlier this month against Robert Morris University-Peoria. Franklin also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Junior guard
Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) and freshman guard
Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) each chipped in with 20 points.
After trailing 45-38 at the half, McKendree opened the final period with a 10-2 run to grab a 48-47 lead. After UW-Parkside regained the advantage, Jackson and Michael connected on back-to-back three-pointers to push the Bearcats in front for good at 56-53 with 15:25 to play. McKendree later stretched the margin to as many as 11 points at 74-63 before the Rangers made one final run. UW-Parkside closed within 78-77 with just over three minutes on the clock, but the Bearcats hit their final three shots from the field and sank seven consecutive free throws during a crucial two-minute span down the stretch to seal the historic victory.
As a team, McKendree shot 56.7 percent from the field (17-of-30) over the final 20 minutes of play while making all but one of its 16 free throws (93.8 percent) in the second half. For the game, the Bearcats were 19-of-21 from the foul line (90.5 percent).
In the first half, McKendree scored seven of the first nine points before Wisconsin-Parkside netted 10 of the next 13 points to grab its first lead of the night at 12-10. The teams battled back and forth over the next several minutes as the Bearcats were able to regain a three-point advantage on four different occasions in the period, the last coming at 31-28 thanks to a lay-up from Michael with 5:43 left until halftime.
Wisconsin-Parkside then reeled off the next eight points to battle its way back in front at 36-31 with 3:40 left in the period. After building its seven-point lead at the half, the Rangers scored the first basket of the second half before McKendree rallied.
Andy Mazurczak paced Wisconsin-Parkside with 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists while Kendale McCullum added 17 points and five rebounds. Chavares Flanigan came off the bench to post 15 points for the Rangers.
