WATCH THE UNIVERSITY'S VIDEO CELEBRATING HARRY STATHAM'S 1,100th CAREER WIN
(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 11)—One of the most dramatic comebacks in the recent history of the McKendree University men's basketball program pushed
Harry Statham to yet another milestone moment Thursday night at the facility that bears his name.
The Bearcats overcame a 19-point deficit with just over 10 minutes to play to register a 108-105 overtime win over Missouri S&T at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. The victory was No. 1,100 for Statham, which makes him the first coach in four-year college basketball history to reach the mark. Just five days earlier, Statham became the winningest coach in the history at the four-year level – men's or women's – when McKendree defeated Maryville University in St. Louis, 92-84.
Now in his 50
th season as the head coach at McKendree, Statham has a career record of 1,100-476. The Bearcats improved to 12-10 overall and 5-9 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play thanks to Thursday's comeback triumph.
Freshman guard
Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) dropped in a game-high 30 points to lead the way for McKendree. After missing his first free throw attempt on the night, Michael hit his final 13 tries. Junior guard
David Franklin (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) was close behind with 29 points along while adding team-high totals of eight rebounds and six assists. Franklin was 10-of-11 from the foul line. Junior guard
Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) chipped in with 24 points. McKendree matched a season-high with its 108 points scored and topped the century mark for the fourth time this season. The Bearcats also scored 108 points in a 108-54 decision over Robert Morris-Springfield on Nov. 25.
McKendree was able to notch the come-from-behind win despite committing 27 turnovers. The Bearcats shot 62.5 percent from the field (35-of-56) and made 31-of-36 attempts from the free throw line. In addition, McKendree held a 45-30 edge in rebounding against Missouri S&T.
After leading by as many as 14 points in the first half on its way to a 52-43 lead at the intermission, the visiting Miners added to their advantage in the early stages of the second half. McKendree had pulled within eight points before Missouri S&T put together a 10-2 run to stretch its margin to 80-62 with 11:31 on the clock. The Miners eventually grabbed an 83-64 lead at the 10:12 mark.
McKendree slowly started to chip away at its deficit, but still trailed 97-85 after Missouri S&T's B.J. McLaughlin hit a three-point shot with 3:41 remaining. The Bearcats then took control down the stretch, outscoring the Miners 14-2 over the next three minutes to knot the score at 99-99. McKendree hit six of its seven shots during the burst as Jackson tied the game with a 15-foot jumper with 35.9 seconds left. After a Missouri S&T miss, the Bearcats had a final shot, but a 30-footer from Michael clanged off the back iron just ahead of the buzzer.
In the extra period, McKendree scored the first basket before the Miners converted back-to-back lay-ups to take their final lead of the night at 103-101. After a free throw by senior center
David Newton (Rochelle, IL/Rochelle) closed the lead to a single point for the Miners, Michael hit two foul shots at the 2:22 mark to push the Bearcats in front for good at 104-103. McKendree was able to maintain a three-point lead before Zach Ellis hit two free throws with 44.6 seconds left to trim the Missouri S&T deficit back to 106-105.
The teams exchanged missed shots before Franklin was fouled with 12 seconds to play. He sank two free throws to extend the lead back to three points for McKendree. Missouri S&T called timeout to set up a final play, but a potential game-tying three-point shot was off the mark as Newton grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock to send the McKendree crowd into a frenzy.
Missouri S&T (8-15, 4-10 GLVC) controlled the tempo for the majority of the first half, shooting 54 percent in the period to take its nine-point lead at the break. The Miners led by 12 points with 3.3 seconds on the clock, but the Bearcats were able to inbound to Michael in front of the Bearcats' bench. He took one dribble and fired up a 55-foot shot that caught nothing but net
Six different players scored in double figures for Missouri S&T. Ellis came off the bench to post a team-high 23 points for the Miners. Telloy Simon added 17 points while Rokas Paulauskas helped out with 15 points and a team-leading eight rebounds.
