LEBANON, Ill. – The men's basketball team opened up the season 3-0 for a second consecutive year as they routed Hannibal-LaGrange University 80-39 in their home opener at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center on Friday, November 21st in Lebanon, Illinois. 

Score: McKendree University 80, Hannibal-LaGrange University 39 

Record: Bearcats 3-0, 0-0 GLVC | Trojans 3-3, 0-0 AMC 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

The Bearcats wasted no time getting out to a solid start with a 10-2 edge in the first four minutes of play as senior guard Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.) and first-year backcourt sensation Andrew Moore (Montgomery County, Mo.) each chipped in a field goal while the rest came from the stripe on 6-for-6 attempts. A few minutes later, Woods would find the bottom of the net for the team's first shot from beyond the arc, as a few possessions later saw the sophomores in forward Wyatt Zellers (Scottsburg, Ind.) and guard Grant Fridley (Trenton, Ill.) make it three-straight long balls for McKendree to take a 21-7 lead. 

After the under-eight media timeout, fifth-year forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) helped ignite a 14-4 run over a five-minute span with a couple of powerful layups as redshirt sophomore forward Jakob Fredricksen (Elizabethtown, Ky.) and freshman guard Moses Wilson (Aurora, Ill.) continued the outside presence with a pair of three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Senior guard Caleb Burton (O'Fallon, Ill.) would stop a quick 7-0 spurt by the Trojans as he made a last-second close-range jumper before the game clock expired to lead his team into the locker room up 39-22. 

A 12-second jumper by HLGU made its way to the bottom of the net to start half number two, but McKendree was right there to respond in a big way with 18 unanswered points over a seven-minute stretch. Wilson put the spotlight on his head with a one-handed slam off the inside feed, but he did not stop there, as he picked off the opposition's pass and drove it in for another dunk. 

The interior force in Fredricksen would display his long-range skillset with a made three-pointer from the left wing to put his squad up by a comfortable 29 points, and no slowing down in sight. With 5:51 remaining in regulation, the Bearcats would put the dagger in the Trojans' hearts with a quick 11-0 run, which included a fourth made dunk by Wilson as McKendree took care of business on their home court with an 80-39 win. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Wilson led all scorers with 13 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the floor with one three-pointer and supplement with three boards and a pair of steals. 

• Fridley also followed with a perfect shooting night on 3-for-3 shooting with 2-for-2 from distance for 11 points with three rebounds and an assist. 

• Four Bearcats contributed offensively with nine points each from Moore, Fredricksen, Woods, and Zellers, as the former two combined for 13 boards in the process. 

• McKendree shot 50.0% from the field, 33.3% from deep, and 79.2% from the line. 

• McKendree outrebounded HLGU 41-24. 

• Over half of the Bearcats' total points came from the bench (43/80). 

• McKendree won the paint battle immensely, 38-8. 

• The Bearcats held the lead for 39:46 (99.4%) of game time and never trailed. 

• This is the second consecutive year that McKendree opened up the season 3-0. 

UP NEXT 

McKendree will be back in action early next week to participate in the DoubleTree by Hilton Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Drury University, with their first of two contests coming against the University of Central Missouri on Tuesday, November 25th with a 3:15 PM CT tip. The Bearcats will then face off against (RV) Concordia University, St. Paul the next day at same start time. 

The games will be streamed live and on-demand on GLVCSN via a subscription/download purchase. Live stats will also be made available as tickets are on sale for each of the two days for the whole day at the O'Reilly Family Event Center (two men's basketball and two women's basketball games each day). 

Keep up with McKendree University Men's Basketball on Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram. #GLVCmbb | #D2mbb 

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