GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at QUINCY -- Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, 3:15 p.m.
Pepsi Arena, Quincy, Ill.
LISTEN LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
WATCH LIVE (Quincy Broadcast)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
QUINCY SEASON STATISTICS
GLVC TOURNAMENT BRACKET
GLVC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 27)--It will be a new season and a new post-season era for the McKendree University men's basketball team when the Bearcats travel north Sunday to visit Quincy University in the first round of the 2016 Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament. Tip-off is set for 3:15 p.m. The contest can be heard live on the Bearcat Sports Network at
www.mckbearcats.com/watch, beginning with the pre-game show at 3:05 p.m.
McKendree is making its first trip to the GLVC Tournament since joining the conference in 2012-13. The Bearcats punched their ticket to the 12-team event in dramatic fashion, rallying from an 11-point deficit late in the first half on Thursday to collect an 88-83 overtime victory against the University of Illinois Springfield at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. The win propelled McKendree to the No. 10 seed in the field.
David Franklin (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) saved his best performance of the 2015-16 season for the final regular-season tilt as he registered a career-high 37 points to go along with nine rebounds. Franklin netted 21 of his points in the first half, including three-pointers on the Bearcats' final two possessions of the first half to trim its 11-point deficit to just five at the intermission. It was Franklin's fifth game this season with at least 30 points, which is the most by any player in the league.
Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) helped out with 27 points and seven rebounds, while
Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds.
Kyle Yates (Bethalto, IL/Civic Memorial) handed out a career-high six assists against the Prairie Stars.
The Bearcats closed the regular season with an overall record of 13-13, while posting a 6-12 mark in GLVC play. The six wins earned by the Bearcats is the most in conference action during the program's four seasons in the GLVC. Sunday's game will mark the first post-season game for McKendree since the 2010-11 season, when the Bearcats finished as the runner-up in the American Midwest Conference Tournament during the program's NAIA days.
Franklin enters the GLVC Tournament as the leading scorer in the GLVC. Franklin boosted his scoring average to 21.5 points per game thanks to his 37-point effort on Thursday. He is also fourth in the league in rebounding at 8.0 RPG. Michael sits just outside the GLVC top 10 in scoring in 11th place at 15.4 PPG. Michael is also eighth among all conference players in free throw percentage at .847.
ABOUT THE HAWKSQuincy comes into the first round of GLVC Tournament play with an overall record of 18-9. The Hawks were 12-6 against conference foes this season, and sat at or near the top of the GLVC West Division for the entire year. Quincy dropped an 83-82 heartbreaker in its regular-season finale at home on Thursday against Truman State University. Joseph Tagarelli showed the way for Quincy by posting a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds against the Bulldogs. Jordan Wilson came off the bench to add 13 points, while Herm Senor II and Godson Eneogwe each connected for 11 points in the contest.
As a team, Quincy leads the GLVC in scoring offense at 86.8 points per outing. The Hawks also top all conference squads by averaging just under nine steals per game. Tagarelli is eighth in the GLVC in scoring at 16.6 points per contest. Evan McGaughey, who is second on the Quincy team in scoring at 13.9 PPG, is third in the conference in rebounding at 8.4 per game. Herm Senor II has 134 assists on the year to average 4.96 per game, a figure that places him third in the conference.
The teams met back on Jan. 9 at Pepsi Arena in Quincy, with the host Hawks posting a 95-76 win over the Bearcats. Franklin scored a team-high 19 points for McKendree, while
Darin Winkelman (Steeleville, IL/Steeleville) chipped in with 18 points and a team-leading eight rebounds. Jackson also scored in double figures for the Bearcats with 12 points. Tagarelli led Quincy with 22 points while pulling down 11 rebounds. Eneogwe added 19 points, while McGaughey contributed 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. The Hawks shot 52.4 percent from the field in the first half in building a 55-36 lead at the half.
WHAT'S NEXTThe winner of Sunday's McKendree/Quincy game will advance to the GLVC Tournament quarterfinal round, which will be held at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. All quarterfinal, semifinal and championship-round action of the GLVC Tournament -- both men's and women's -- will be contested at Family Arena March 3-6.
