GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE vs. MARYVILLE -- Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, 7:30 p.m.
Statham Center -- Lebanon, Ill.

WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
MARYVILLE SEASON STATISTICS
GLVC STATISTICS

McKENDREE vs. MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS -- Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, 3 p.m.
Statham Center -- Lebanon, Ill.

WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
UMSL SEASON STATISTICS
GLVC STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 9)--The McKendree University men's basketball team will play its next four games inside the friendly confines of the Harry M. Statham Sports Center, which begins with a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference match-ups this week. The Bearcats will first take on Maryville University Thursday evening before the University of Missouri-St. Louis comes to town for a Saturday afternoon battle. Both games will air live on the Bearcat Sports Network at www.glvcsn.com/mckendree, with a pre-game show starting 10 minutes prior to tip-off. 

McKendree hit the .500 mark on the season thanks to a 77-75 victory last Saturday at the University of Illinois Springfield. The Bearcats overcame a 10-point deficit early in the first half to pick up a key GLVC road win. McKendree -- which is now 6-6 on the year and 2-1 in the GLVC -- was led by Nate Michael's (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) 24-point performance. Michael went a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line in the contest while pulling down a career-high nine rebounds. Nolan Gerling (Germantown, IL/Mater Dei) registered 17 points and eight rebounds in the win, while Giovanni Offard (Freeport, IL/Freeport) had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Bearcats. 

Four of McKendree's six wins have come at home in 2018-19. In fact, the Bearcats will bring a perfect 4-0 record on the Statham Center floor into Thursday's battle with Maryville. The Bearcats, who are averaging 75.3 PPG in their 12 games this season, have turned up the offense over their four home games. McKendree is averaging 85.3 PPG in games played in Lebanon so far in 2018-19. 

The four-game home stand that begins on Thursday marks the longest of the season for McKendree. Following the games against Maryville and UMSL, the Bearcats will take on Drury University and Missouri S&T next week. 

ABOUT MARYVILLE
The Saints are 5-8 overall and 0-4 in the GLVC this season. Maryville hosted both Bellarmine University and the University of Southern Indiana last week, dropping decisions of five and six points, respectively to its league foes. The Saints' last outing was an 89-83 overtime loss to top-ranked Bellarmine on Saturday. 

Casey Teson is the second-leading scorer in the conference at 21.3 PPG. Teson has made 46.4 percent of his three-point attempts and has also handed out a team-leading 36 assists. Chas Glotta is also averaging in double digits for the Saints at 13.6 PPG. Eugene Jones is the leading rebounder for Maryville at 5.8 RPG. 

McKendree and Maryville have already met once this season, with the Bearcats scratching out an 84-83 win on Dec. 1 in St. Louis. Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) drilled a 15-foot jumper with 4.3 seconds remaining to cap a second-half comeback for McKendree, which collected its first league win of the season in the process. Michael posted 24 points to lead the Bearats, while Alijah Thomas (Des Moines, IA/Hoover) registered 22 points and seven rebounds. Nolan Gerling (Germantown, IL/Mater Dei) was the other Bearcat to score in double figures with 17 points as he matched Thomas with seven boards. Five Saints scored in double digits, led by a 16-point effort by Teson.

ABOUT MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
The Tritons are 11-3 on the year and 2-2 in the GLVC heading into their Thursday night battle at Illinois Springfield. UMSL has won four of its last five outings, including a triumph over Southern Indiana last Saturday at home. The Tritons are just three wins away from matching their entire 2017-18 total when they went 14-13. 

Johnathan Matthews leads three UMSL players averaging in double figures at 14.7 PPG. Matthews is also the top free throw shooter in the GLVC,  hitting 94.5 percent of his attempts from the stripe. Ronnie Carson is next at 12.1 PPG while Eric Dust rounds out the trio at 11.1 PPG. Dust is also the leading rebounder for UMSL at 5.9 RPG. 

UMSL rolled to an 87-55 decision over McKendree in the first meeting of the season between the two teams on Nov. 29 in St. Louis. Giovanni Offard (Freeport, IL/Freeport) and Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) each scored 10 points to show the way for the Bearcats, while Michael added six rebounds and four assists. Ronnie Carson came off the bench to net 19 points for UMSL, while Jason Towery and Johnathan Matthew each contributed 17 points in the win for the Tritons.