LEBANON, Ill. - The men's basketball team put up an efficient shooting barrage over Blackburn College on Wednesday, November 13th, at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Illinois. 

Score: McKendree University 88, Blackburn College 42 

Record: Bearcats 3-0, 0-0 GLVC | Beavers 0-2, 0-0 SLIAC 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Coming home after a successful opening road trip last week, McKendree started out hot in front of their fans, commencing an electric 14-2 run with sophomore guard Justin King (Mascoutah, Ill.) being able to get inside the paint for a tough layup and then a miraculous dunk. Junior guard Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.) connected on a three-pointer a little over five minutes in and was answered with Blackburn junior guard Cayden Paquette halting the run by the Bearcats, but Woods would clap back with another distance shot to give him a quick six points. After the second media timeout, McKendree freshman forward Wyatt Zellers (Scottsburg, Ind.) got inside for an easy layup and then a couple of minutes later hit a shot from beyond the arc along with teammate senior guard Destin Whitaker (Romeoville, Ill.) hitting a three of his own to give the bearcats a 25-11 lead. 

Within the final 10 minutes of the first half, the Bearcats would keep up the hot shooting from the perimeter, notching in five more threes with Woods snagging a trio of them while Whitaker and fellow senior guard Joey Niesman (Oswego, Ill.) dropping in the other two. Beaver junior guard Darius Duff banked in a close-range jumper at the buzzer for his squad, who would find themselves down 48-24 at halftime. 

Much like the first half, McKendree opened up the second period of play on a 15-4 run in which Blackburn junior forward Nick Cook nailed back-to-back mid-range jumpers, but Niesman and King would be too much, combining for 10 points in that span. Another layup by Zellers moments later pushed the McKendree lead to 36, making the chances for the opponent to catch back up very slim. 

After a successful three-pointer by freshman guard Grant Fridley (Trenton, Ill.) Head Coach George Suggs waved in a platoon of his bench to cap off an astounding night at the sports center. Senior guard would bring some immediate toughness by getting inside for a layup and pushing their lead even further. Junior guard Caleb Burton (O'Fallon, Ill.) and freshman guard McGrady Noyes (Troy, Ill.) both connected on back-to-back trey balls and would be capped off by another layup from Harre to give the home Bearcats a whopping 88-42 win. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Woods was lights out the entire game, already finishing with a Division II career-high of 17 points while shooting all his field goals from distance, going 5-7 plus a couple of assists. 

• King also earned his Division II career-high with 16 points on a very efficient 7-9 shooting while taking no three-pointers, while also dishing out two assists and getting a pair of steals. 

• Niesman chipped in nine points in the victory, with Stein, Zellers, and junior forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) each getting in seven with Stein obtaining his Division II career-high in assists with six. 

• Cooke led all scorers for Blackburn with 11 while shooting 4-7 from the field and pulling down three boards. 

• McKendree shot 53.2% from the field, 46.7% from distance, and 88.9% from the stripe while the Beavers ended with 35.6%, 21.4%, and 46.7% respectively. 

• The Bearcats capitalized on the Beavers' mistakes, tabbing 39 points on their 25 turnovers. 

• With a gigantic win on the evening, McKendree was able to get 15 of their 17-man roster in as they dropped in a total of 43 bench points. 

UP NEXT

McKendree will be back on the court on Saturday, November 16th when they face Ferris State University at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center with tip-off coming in at 5:30 PM CT. 

For more updates and information on Bearcat Athletics, please continue to visit McKBearcats.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 
#BearcatsUnleashed