LEBANON, Ill. – The men's basketball team did not show any signs of fatigue or letdown against a nationally ranked team in defeating No.21 Concordia University, St. Paul 80-66 on day two of the DoubleTree by Hilton Thanksgiving Classic at the O'Reilly Family Event Center in Springfield, Missouri, for their seventh-ever top 25 win.
Score: McKendree University 80, Concordia University, St. Paul 66
Record: Bearcats 4-1, 0-0 GLVC | Golden Bears 4-1, 1-0 NSIC
HOW IT HAPPENED
Looking to rebound after their first loss of the season the day prior against the University of Central Missouri, McKendree scored the game's first five points behind a three-point shot from fifth-year forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) and a layup from the sophomore guard Rini Harris (O'Fallon, Ill.). A couple more inside shots by freshman guard Andrew Moore (Montgomery County, Mo.) and sophomore forward Joshua Schönbäck (Kierling, Austria) extended the team's lead to seven.
Concordia-St. Paul found their groove shortly after by knocking down a pair of shots from beyond the arc, but the Bearcats kept their distance throughout with Franklin canning his second triple before the 10-minute mark. A steal by the freshman guard Moses Wilson (Aurora, Ill.) led to a breakaway signature dunk for the newcomer to put his squad up 21-10.
Moore kept the Bearcats on the beat by showcasing his volume shooting abilities by scoring nine points in the final nine minutes of the first half. Sophomore forward Wyatt Zellers (Scottsburg, Ind.) powered in a trio of layups for six points and led McKendree to a comforting 40-25 lead heading into the break.
The Golden Bears once again were feeling it from long distance as they sank back-to-back triples to open half number two and cut their deficit to single digits before senior guard Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.) knocked down a triple of his own to regain the double-digit edge.
A plowing Jakob Fredricksen (Elizabethtown, Ky.) outmaned his defender all the way from outside the arc to inside the restricted area to get the hard-earned two for a 17-point advantage with just a hair under nine minutes remaining in regulation.
After a plethora of converted free throws by the Bearcats, Moore found Wilson cutting to the rim and dished it off to the fellow freshman with no letting down in sight. The ball-sharing a high-IQ shot-taking McKendree led them to win against the 21-ranked Concordia-St. Paul 80-66.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Moore led all scorers with a career-high 23 points on an efficient 8-for-13 shooting (61.5%) while grabbing eight rebounds (three offensive) and dished out four assists.
• Woods followed the freshman with 17 points including a couple made threes, plus six boards.
• Harris and Wilson rounded out the Bearcat double-digit scoring with 10 points each as the two combined for 10 rebounds as the latter earned it on the defensive end with a pair of blocks and a trio of takeaways.
• McKendree shot 49.1% from the field, 30.0% from deep, and 72.0% from the line.
• The Bearcats outrebounded the Golden Bears 39-29.
• McKendree outperformed Concordia-St. Paul in several areas, including points off turnovers (18-13), second-chance points (16-6), and points inside the paint (42-24).
• This is the seventh NABC Top 25 win for the Bearcats in their NCAA Division II era (since 2012-13), and their first since defeating then-No.7 Ferris State University on the road 71-68 on November 22nd, 2023.
• This is the first win, let alone McKendree's first matchup, against a current member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), in their Division II history.
UP NEXT
McKendree will begin Great Lakes Valley Conference action this Saturday when they travel to nearby Maryville University at the Moloney Arena in St. Louis, Missouri with tip time at 3:00 PM CT.
The game will be streamed live and on-demand on GLVCSN via a subscription/download purchase. Live stats will also be made available. Ticket information will be shared soon.
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