GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE -- Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
DeSimone Gymnasium -- Somers, Wis.
WATCH LIVE (UW-Parkside Broadcast)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
UW-PARKSIDE SEASON STATISTICS

McKENDREE vs. ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD -- Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018, 3 p.m.
Harry M. Statham Sports Center -- Lebanon, Ill.
WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD SEASON STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 3)--The McKendree University men's basketball team will look to keep its winning ways intact as it heads back into the heart of Great Lakes Valley Conference play this week. The Bearcats will have a pair of games against league rivals.

Up first will be a trip to Somers, Wis., for a Thursday contest at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. McKendree will then return to the friendly confines of the Harry M. Statham Sports Center for a Saturday meeting with the University of Illinois Springfield. Both games will air on the GLVC Sports Network, with Saturday's tilt carried live on the Bearcat Sports Network at www.glvcsn.com/mckendree. 

McKendree, which is 10-2 overall this season, begins the week riding a season-high five-game win streak. It is also the Bearcats' longest win streak since a five-game tear early in November 2015. This also marks the first time since the 2009-10 campaign that the McKendree men have secured 10 wins before the month of January. McKendree is 1-1 in GLVC action with a 100-91 victory at Drury University on Dec. 2 to its credit. 

In its last non-conference game of the season on Friday evening at the Statham Center, McKendree overcame a fast start by Robert Morris University-Peoria to notch a 109-76 win. The Bearcats connected on 65.7 percent of their field goal attempts in the first half on the way to a 62-30 lead and never looked back in cruising to the victory. Five McKendree players scored in double figures, led by a 22-point effort from Nate Michael. Justin Blanks chipped in with 17 points and seven rebounds while Nate Bethel -- seeing his first game action of the 2017-18 season -- came off the bench to add 16 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes of work. 

Entering the new calendar year, McKendree leads the GLVC in three different statistical categories. The Bearcats are tops in the league in scoring margin, outscoring its opponents by 19.7 PPG. McKendree is also No. 1 in the GLVC in rebounding margin (+10.8 RPG) and offensive rebounding (13.6 RPG). The Bearcats also sit in the top three of the GLVC rankings in scoring offense (third at 89.2 PPG), scoring defense (second at 69.5 PPG), free throw percentage (third at 74.7 percent), total rebounding (second at 42.7 RPG), steals (7.9 SPG), turnover margin (third at +3.0 per game) and defensive rebounds (second at 29.1 RPG). 

Individually, Justin Blanks continues to sit atop the GLVC stat report in scoring at 20.3 PPG. Blanks is the only player in the conference averaging above 20 points per game at the start of the 2018 calendar year. Malcolm Mabry is fifth in the conference in rebounding at 9.6 per contest. Nolan Gerling holds down the No. 7 spot in the GLVC in field goal percentage, hitting 63.3 percent of his tries. Giovanni Offard and Gianni Otto remain in the league's top 10 in both assists and steals. Offard is fifth in assists (4.1 APG) and tied for sixth in steals (1.6 SPG). Otto is ninth in assists (3.6 APG) and fifth in steals (1.8 SPG). Otto is also second in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.6. Nate Michael has moved into seventh place in the GLVC in free throw percentage at 85.7 percent. 

Following the contests this week, McKendree will have a pair of games against GLVC Central Division foes next week. The Bearcats will host Maryville University next Thursday -- Jan. 11 -- before making the short trip to the University of Missouri-St. Louis two days later. 

ABOUT WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE
The Rangers are 2-10 overall and 0-2 in the GLVC this season. UW-Parkside has lost each of its last three outings, including an 80-66 decision on Saturday at home to No. 10-ranked Ferris State University. Head coach Luke Reigel has two players averaging in double figures, led by Jameel Moore at 14.3 PPG. Moore is also connecting on nearly 80 percent of his free throw attempts and has dished out a team-leading 36 assists. Adam Bonk is the other UW-Parkside player scoring in double digits at 12 PPG. Bonk ranks second among all GLVC players in three-point field goal percentage, knocking down 54 percent of its tries from beyond the arc. He is also tied for the conference lead in three-point field goals made per game at 3.0. 

The teams met just once during the 2016-17 season, with UW-Parkside claiming a 90-63 home win on Jan. 28, 2017. Nate Michael scored a team-best 18 points to lead the Bearcats. McKendree's last win over the Rangers came on Jan. 28, 2016 with a 92-85 triumph. The win over No. 21-ranked Wisconsin-Parkside marked career victory No. 1,098 for McKendree head coach Harry Statham, who that evening tied the late Pat Summitt for the all-time wins lead in college basketball history at the four-year level. 

ABOUT ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD
The Prairie Stars bring a 9-3 overall record and a 1-1 conference mark into their Thursday night tilt at Lewis University. UIS has won each of its last three games and seven of eight entering the new year. Fourth-year head coach Bill Walker has three players posting at least 10 points per game, led by Eddie Longmeyer at 18.3 PPG. Longmeyer is the seventh-leading scorer among GLVC players heading into the 2018 calendar year. He is also tied for second in the GLVC in steals at 2.0 SPG, and is eighth in the conference in rebounding at 8.2 RPG. Logan Gonce has 44 assists this season, and is eighth in the GLVC in assists per game at 3.7. 

McKendree dropped a pair of single-digit contests to UIS in 2016-17. The Prairie Stars edged the Bearcats 92-89 on Jan. 16, 2017 at the Statham Center before holding on for an 83-75 victory to complete the sweep on Feb. 23, 2017 in Springfield, Ill.