GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at DRURY -- Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017
O'Reilly Events Center -- Springfield, Mo.

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LIVE STATS
McKENDREE GAME NOTES
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
DRURY SEASON STATISTICS

McKENDREE at MISSOURI S&T -- Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017
Bullman Multi-Purpose Building -- Rolla, Mo.

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McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
MISSOURI S&T SEASON STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 9)--The McKendree University men's basketball team begins its long and winding road toward the end of its 2016-17 regular season slate this weekend with a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference games in Missouri. The Bearcats will first visit Springfield, Mo., for a conference match-up against Drury University Thursday at 7:45 p.m. The road swing continues on Saturday at 3 p.m. as the Bearcats will take on Missouri S&T in Rolla. 

McKendree enters the week having won its final two home games of the regular season last weekend against Maryville University (79-73) and the University of Missouri-St. Louis (79-69). The Bearcats improved to 9-11 overall and sit at 3-9 in the GLVC standings. McKendree is squarely in the midst of the race for a GLVC Tournament berth. First-round games of the GLVC Tournament will be held on Feb. 26 on campus sites. 

In the Bearcats' Senior Day victory over Missouri-St. Louis, McKendree relied mostly on the pre-game honorees in posting the win. Playing in his final regular-season home game at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center, Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) led all scorers with 26 points for the Bearcats. Darin Winkelman (Steeleville, IL/Steeleville) contributed 16 points and eight rebounds, while David Franklin (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) added 12 points and team-high totals of nine rebounds and three steals. Kyle Yates (Bethalto, IL/Civic Memorial) handed out a team-leading six assists for the Bearcats, who closed the regular season with nine victories in their 16 home games this season. 

With his 26 points, Jackson boosted his career total to 1,074 points and sits in 42nd place on the Bearcats' all-time scoring list. Up next is Rick Klingelhoefer, who netted 1,081 points during his McKendree playing days from 1980-82. 

At 17.3 points per game, Jackson ranks eighth in the GLVC in scoring. Nolan Gerling (Germantown, IL/Mater Dei) is fourth in the league in field goal percentage as he has connected on 61.7 percent of his tries from the floor. Gerling also ranks sixth in the conference in rebounding at 7.5 RPG. Justin Blanks (Barberton, OH/Norton) is sixth in the GLVC in free throw percentage at 87.5 percent. 

ABOUT DRURY
The Panthers enter Thursday's contest against McKendree with an overall record of 13-8. Drury is 6-7 in the GLVC, and looks to snap a four-game losing streak. The Panthers lost both games of its road trip last weekend out east, falling to Bellarmine University (87-64) and the University of Southern Indiana (77-51). Drury's four-game losing skid is the program's longest in six seasons.

Four different players score in double figures for Drury. Tevin Foster leads the quartet at 14 points per game. Foster also has 89 assists this season, and his 4.2 assists per game ranks eighth among all GLVC players. In addition, Foster is fourth in the league in free throw percentage, hitting 88.6 percent of his attempts from the stripe. John WIlliams (11.7 PPG), Isaac Johnson (11.3 PPG) and Joshua Palmer (10.3 PPG) round out the list of double-digit scorers for the Panthers. 

The teams met just once last season. Drury visited the Statham Center back on Feb. 13, 2016 and came away with an 87-76 triumph. David Franklin (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) poured in a game-high 31 points and added 13 rebounds to lead McKendree, while Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) contributed 26 points in the effort. 

ABOUT MISSOURI S&T
The Miners are currently 9-11 overall and 3-10 in the GLVC. Missouri S&T will host the University of Illinois Springfield on Thursday ahead of its match-up with McKendree. The Miners also dropped a pair of league games on the road last week, first in an 86-78 decision at Southern Indiana before an 80-59 setback at Bellarmine.

Like Drury, Missouri S&T has four players averaging at least 10 points per contest. Jalen Myers heads the list at 14.4 PPG. Myers is also the Miners' top three-point threat, having hit 54 shots from beyond the arc and shooting nearly 41 percent from long distance. In a reserve role for Missouri S&T, Telloy Simon is posting 12 PPG while shooting nearly 87 percent from the foul line. Randy Holmes (117 PPG) and Juwan Miller (10.3 PPG) are the other averaging in double figures for the Miners. Rokas Paulauskas paces Missouri S&T in rebounding at 7.3 RPG, which is good for eighth in the GLVC.

Back on Feb. 11, 2016 at the Statham Center, Missouri S&T held a 19-point lead midway through the second half before a furious rally propelled McKendree to a 108-105 overtime win against the Miners. That victory marked career win No. 1,100 for the Bearcats' Harry Statham, who is the all-time wins leader in college basketball history at the four-year level. Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) led the charge with 30 points, while David Franklin (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) added 29 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) dropped in 24 points against Missouri S&T.