(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 26)—The McKendree University men's basketball team punched earned its first-ever bid to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament in dramatic fashion with an 88-83 overtime win Thursday night at home against the University of Illinois Springfield.
The Bearcats trailed until the final minute of regulation and survived a game-tying three-pointer by the Prairie Stars' Zach Steinberg with just under eight seconds on the clock that forced the extra period. McKendree scored the first six points of overtime and held off a late charge from UIS to secure the win.
McKendree moves to 13-13 on the year and closes out GLVC play with a 6-12 league mark. The Bearcats grabbed the No. 10 seed in the 12-team GLVC Tournament field and will travel to Quincy University for a 3:15 p.m. contest on Sunday against the seventh-seeded Hawks.
Junior guard
David Franklin (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) poured in a career-high 37 points – including 21 in the first half – to show the way for McKendree. Franklin also pulled nine rebounds, as did senior center
David Newton (Rochelle, IL/Rochelle). Freshman guard
Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) added 27 points and seven rebounds, while junior guard
Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard
Kyle Yates (Bethalto, IL/Civic Memorial) dished out a career-best six assists in the win for the Bearcats.
Late in the first half, Illinois Springfield (11-17, 5-13 GLVC) put together a 9-3 run to build its largest lead of the night at 47-36 with 65 seconds left until intermission. Franklin helped McKendree answer by drilling consecutive three-pointers on the Bearcats' last two possessions of the period, bringing the hosts within 47-42 at the break.
Illinois Springfield extended its lead to as many as nine points midway through the second half before McKendree rallied again. A 12-4 run, capped by a three-pointer from Michael with 5:56 remaining in regulation, trimmed the Bearcats' deficit to 70-69. The teams traded 6-0 runs before Jackson was fouled driving to the basket with 53.8 seconds to go in the second half. Jackson hit both free throws to give McKendree its first lead of the night at 77-76. After a UIS missed the front end of a bonus on its next possession, Franklin was fouled with 19.2 seconds on the clock. Franklin sank both attempts to stretch the Bearcats' lead to 79-76.
Steinberg followed with his game-tying three-pointer to knot the contest at 79-79, and Franklin missed an off-balance three-point try in the closing seconds to send the game to overtime. Franklin hit a pair of free throws to start the scoring in the extra period, and Jackson and Michael followed with back-to-back lay-ups to push McKendree out to an 85-79 advantage with 3:25 remaining. The Prairie Stars responded with four straight points to pull within 85-83, but that was as close as the visitors would come the rest of the way.
Michael hit a pair of foul shots with 1:09 to play to give McKendree a four-point lead before Newton sealed the win thanks to a free throw with 5.6 seconds left.
McKendree did the job defensively against Illinois Springfield in the final five minutes, limiting the Prairie Stars to 1-of-8 shooting (12.5 percent) in overtime. The Bearcats were able to complete the season sweep of UIS as McKendree won the first meeting between the two schools, 86-84, back on Jan. 18 in Springfield, Ill.
Davi Austin paced Illinois Springfield with 18 points, nine rebounds and a game-high three blocked shots. Steinberg came off the bench to add 16 points and seven rebounds, while J.J. Cravatta scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half for the Prairie Stars.
