EDITOR'S NOTE: Saturday's game at Maryville University has been postponed due to inclement weather, with a rescheduled date and time to be officially determined. McKendree's home GLVC opener against Rockhurst University still remains on schedule.

LEBANON, Ill. – The men's basketball team will put a hold on their non-conference slate and begin a three-game stretch against GLVC competition with the first two of which being a weekend matinee showdown at Maryville University, followed by an evening early-week conference home opener against Rockhurst University. 

The Bearcats will take on the Saints at 3:00 PM CT at the Moloney Arena in St. Louis, Missouri, as their matchup against the Hawks will come at 7:30 PM CT right at home at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Illinois, as the latter part of McKendree's season's first men's and women's basketball doubleheader. 

Both games will be streamed on GLVC Sports Network via a subscription/download purchase, as live stats will also be available for fans to tune in. 

Tickets for both games at Maryville and McKendree can be purchased through the respective athletic departments' box office websites. General admission price is $12 for the away match against the Saints, and the home contest versus the Hawks is $10. 

[Maryville] [Rockhurst] 

SCOUTING THE LAST OUTINGS 

McKendree split their time at the DoubleTree by Hilton Thanksgiving Classic this past Tuesday and Wednesday on the Campus of Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. 

The first game on the docket was against the University of Central Missouri in a tightly contested battle, where the largest lead was 10, favoring the Mules, who would outwork the Bearcats down the final stretch and win 75-67. Fifth-year forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) and senior guard Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.) led the way with 21 and 20 points as the former shot a high clip of 7-for-9 (77.7%), as the latter went 8-for-16 (50.0%) with four made three-pointers and five rebounds. 

After the setback in their first contest against a current member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAA), McKendree went to face their first matchup against a current Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) member, and nationally ranked No.21 Concordia University, St. Paul. Against the Golden Bears, it was a wire-to-wire display for the Bearcats, who never seemed to let down and grabbed the ranked win in a compelling 80-66 fashion. Freshman guard Andrew Moore (Montgomery County, Mo.) 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 with 17 points, including a couple of made threes, plus six boards. 

HISTORY SHOWCASE 

Against Maryville, this will be the 19th meeting as a member of NCAA Division II and the 21st overall since 2005. Within the Division II realm, the series is tied at an even 9-9, but the Bearcats have shown the more recent success by winning the last two matchups and five of the last six meetings as the only loss in that bunch was by four points. 

Against Rockhurst, it will be the 16th matchup between the two since 2012-13 with McKendree holding the 9-6 edge. The teams met twice last year with both games going down to the wire as former guard Joey Niesman came clutch with an overtime-sending three-pointer in Kansas City and a go-ahead layup at home in Lebanon. After the Hawks opened up the series with a 6-1 lead, the Bearcats have won all of the recent eight outings. 

KNOW THE FOE 

Maryville had a slow start to their new season by losing their first four games to a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opponents before dropping both games at the Pitt State Classic. The Saints picked up their first win of the season in their most recent outing against Union University (Tenn.) in their home opener, 78-71. 

It has been a different story for Rockhurst in the early stages this season. They are sitting at 3-1 overall after going 2-0 at the annual GLVC/GLIAC Challenge in Liberty, Missouri, and most recently handled Missouri Southern State University in a true road contest 94-86. The Hawks, who were picked to finish fourth in the conference this year, saw their only loss at No.2 Washburn University, where they fell by a close margin to the Ichabods, 81-85. 

RANKED UP 

McKendree has now won their seventh Top 25 game in their NCAA Division II history after their last outing against Concordia University, St. Paul on Wednesday. Prior, the Bearcats were 6-38 against Top 25 opponents in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Poll. McKendree faced five ranked teams last year (2024-25), losing in all five of them. McKendree's previous win against a ranked opponent was on the road (71-68) against Ferris State University on November 22nd, 2023. 

NOTHING EASY! 

As of November 25th, McKendree is coming in with a top-three national defense in all of NCAA Division II. Most notably, they have the second-best scoring defense of allowing 52.8 points per game from the opposition. The only team above them is fellow GLVC-member Missouri S&T at a 49.5 average. 

To supplement, the Bearcats also hold the nation's 36th best scoring margin by putting more points on the board with a +16.0 average. That also ranks third in all of the GLVC. 

IMMEDIATE IMPACT 

Four McKendree players thus far have averaged 10+ points or better through four games... three of whom are in their second season at McKendree. Woods averages an even team-high 15.4 points per game while sophomore guard Rini Harris (O'Fallon, Ill.) and Franklin follow with 11.4 and 10.0 scoring averages, respectively.  

The lone other double-digit Bearcat? None other than the first-year guard Andrew Moore (Montgomery County, Mo.), who is currently second on the team in scoring with 12.2, thanks to a career-high 23 points in the team's win over No.21 Concordia-St. Paul Wednesday. 

NCAA'S TOP 100 (as of 11/28/25) 

McKENDREE 

Team: 

• Effective field goal percentage (87th – 53.6%) 
• Field goal percentage (66th – 48.1%) 
• Field goal percentage defense (6th – 34.5%) 
• Fouls per game (26th – 15.0) 
• Rebound margin (96th – +4.5) 
• Scoring defense (2nd – 52.8) 
• Scoring margin (36th – +16.0) 
• Three-point percentage defense (57th – 27.9) 
• Turnover margin (44th – +4.3) 
• Turnovers per game (21st – 10.3) 
• Winning percentage (65th – 75.0%) 

Individual: 

• Rini Harris –– total blocks (86th – 6) blocks per game (70th – 1.5), defensive rebounds per game (74th – 6.0) 

MARYVILLE 

Team: 

• Fouls per game (95th – 16.8) 
• Offensive rebounds per game (60th – 13.8) 

Individual: 

• Evan Palmquist –– minutes per game (65th – 34:26) 
• Kobe Clark –– total rebounds (39th – 45), defensive rebounds per game (40th – 6.6), total rebounds per game (50th – 9.0)

ROCKHURST 

Team: 

• Fast break points (96th – 13.7) 
• Free throw attempts per game (5th – 33.0) 
• Free throws made per game (4th – 24.7) 
• Three-point percentage (60th – 37.5) 
• Turnover margin (54th – 3.7) 
• Turnovers forced per game (96th – 15.3) 
• Turnovers per game (57th – 11.7) 
• Winning percentage (65th – 75.0) 

Individual: 

• Jaylen Wesley –– blocks per game (98th – 57.1), total free throw attempts (66th – 33), total free throws made (54th – 27), minutes per game (22nd – 36:29), point per game (39th – 20.7), steals per game (15th – 3.0) 
• Drenin Dinkins –– points per game (49th – 20.0), three-pointers per game (96th – 2.7) 

LOOKING AHEAD 

After McKendree wraps up their first two GLVC contests, they will get a third in a road matchup at in-state University of Illinois Springfield before they resume their final stretch in their non-conference slate and the 2025 calendar year. Tip-off against the Prairie Stars will be at 7:30 PM CT on Thursday, December 4th at The Recreation and Athletic Center (TRAC) in Springfield, Illinois. 

The contest will be streamed live and on-demand on the GLVC Sports Network via a subscription/download purchase, as live stats will also be available for fans to tune in. Tickets and further details will be provided in the coming days. 

TUNE IN-FO 

DATE	TIME (CT)	HOME TEAM	AWAY TEAM	LIVE STATS	WATCH LIVE
11/29/25	3:00 PM	Maryville	McKendree	STATS	WATCH ($)
12/1/25	7:30 PM	McKendree	Rockhurst	STATS	WATCH ($)

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