LEBANON, Ill. – The men's basketball team will only have a quick moment to catch their breath after sealing a double overtime victory on Monday, as they will stay in-state to take on the University of Illinois Springfield on Thursday, December 4th at 7:30 PM CT at The Recreation and Athletic Center in Springfield, Illinois. 

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

Tickets can be purchased, as general admission is $10, with children ages from 5-17 are $5, and select reserved seating is $15. 

[Illinois Springfield] 

SCOUTING THE LAST OUTING 

McKendree is coming off a hard-fought 95-85 double overtime victory in their GLVC opener at home against Rockhurst University on Monday, December 1st. The Bearcats led through the first 37 minutes and 13 seconds of regulation before the Hawks finally made a significant enough push to take their first lead of the game. A last-second tip-in attempt by Rockhurst to clinch the win would be reviewed by the officials and deemed as a no-basket to send the game to overtime. 

A couple of contested shots made by the opposition put them up by three on the Bearcats with a minutes remaining in the extra period. Yet, senior guard Cha'Vez Woods had other plans as he himself dribbled to gain some space and shoot a step-back three-pointer from 28 feet out to tie the game at 80 apiece and send the high-intense contest to a second overtime. 

A fourth shot from beyond the arc by Woods helped ignite a 15-5 run in overtime number two and take down the Hawks in compelling fashion as the team would move to 5-1 overall and a 1-0 mark in GLVC play. 

Woods notched his collegiate career-high of 32 points by going 9-for-15 from the floor, 4-for-9 from three, and 10-for-12 from the charity stripe. He also tied a career-high five assists and earned his McKendree-best eight rebounds.  

Freshman guard Andrew Moore (Montgomery County, Mo.) had 18 points in the win on 6-for-11 shooting, along with three boards and two dishes. 

Fifth-year forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) followed the freshman closely with 17 points scored of his own in a very efficient 7-for-9 for his second double-double as a Bearcat, with 12 total rebounds.  

Sophomore guard Rini Harris (O'Fallon, Ill.) also earned himself a double-double in the evening with 13 points and 12 boards while also getting at it defensively with a trio of steals and a blocked shot. 

HISTORY SHOWCASE 

Against UIS, this will be the 24th meeting as a member of NCAA Division II and the 35th overall since the 2005-26 season. Within the Division II realm, McKendree holds the edge in the series at 12-11 in part due to having won the last three matchups and won six of the last eight. Last year, the Bearcats earned the first victory 92-82 at home and later with a close 79-75 win in Springfield. 

KNOW THE FOE 

As of December 2nd, the Prairie Stars are the only team in the GLVC with a 2-0 conference record as they have a 5-2 posting in their overall season. They beat the University of Missouri-St. Louis 86-76 in their conference opener on Saturday, and most recently earned a one-point victory by a last-second shot against William Jewell College on Monday. The Prairie Stars, who were picked to finish ninth in the GLVC Preseason Coaches' Poll have won four of their last five outings with the only setback coming to Cedarville University on November 25th. 

PLAY, AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE... VOTES 

On Tuesday, December 2nd McKendree made an appearance on the weekly NABC NCAA Division II Coaches Poll with receiving votes of four points. According to historic records, this is the first time the Bearcats have made an appearance in the national poll, as they currently join Missouri S&T as the only two GLVC schools to appear. McKendree has never made their way into the top 25 in their 14 years in the NCAA Division II era. 

TAKE IT AND DOUBLE IT 

In Monday's win over Rockhurst, Franklin and Harris each recorded a double-double, with the former scoring 17 points as the latter put in 13 in the victory and both contributing 12 rebounds.  

It was the first time two Bearcats grabbed 10+ rebounds in a game since Carson Parker and Caleb Zurliene had 10 each against Upper Iowa University on February 3rd, 2024. It was also the first time two McKendree players had recorded a double-double since Malcolm Mabry had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Nolan Gerling had 12 points and 11 boards at Quincy University on February 24th, 2018. 

Furthermore, this is the second time this season where four Bearcats scored 10+ points in a single game with Woods (32), Moore (18), Franklin (17), and Harris (13) having hit that mark against the Hawks on Monday. The other time was in the game prior to Rockhurst, against then-No.21 Concordia University, St. Paul, where the foursome consisted of Moore (23), Woods (17), Harris (10), and freshman guard Moses Wilson (10). 

LUCKY 7 LOCKS 

As of December 2nd, McKendree has made a huge statement in this early season with their efforts on the defensive end of the floor. They are holding their opponents to an average of 60.3 points per contest, which ranks 7th in all of NCAA Division II. Non-coincidentally, the Bearcats also rank 7th in Division II in their field goal percentage defense, which values in at 35.6% average. 

NCAA'S TOP 100 (as of 12/2/25) 

McKENDREE 

Team: 

• Effective field goal percentage (48th – 55.7%) 
• Field goal percentage (24th – 50.2%) 
• Field goal percentage defense (7th – 35.6%) 
• Rebound margin (56th – +6.7) 
• Defensive rebounds per game (23rd – 29.5) 
• Scoring defense (7th – 60.3) 
• Scoring margin (38th – +14.7) 
• Three-point percentage defense (38th – 27.3%) 
• Turnovers per game (86th – 12.2) 
• Winning percentage (33rd – 83.3%) 

Individual: 

• Rini Harris –– defensive rebounds per game (52nd – 6.3) 
• Cha'Vez Woods –– three-point attempts (81st – 41) 

ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD 

Team: 

• Assist-to-turnover ratio (77th – 1.3) 
• Effective field goal percentage (53rd – 55.5%) 
• Field goal percentage (83rd – 47.5%) 
• Fouls per game (42nd – 15.1) 
• Rebound margin (45th – +7.6) 
• Scoring defense (87th – 71.3) 
• Scoring margin (77th – +10.6) 
• Three-point attempts per game (98th – 25.1) 
• Three-point percentage (28th – 39.8%) 
• Three-pointers made per game (42nd – 10.0) 
• Turnovers per game (10th – 9.9) 
• Winning percentage (89th – 71.4%) 

Individual: 

• Jordan Rice –– assist-to-turnover ratio (65th – 2.8), total assists (28th – 33), assists per game (61st – 4.7), field goal attempts (3rd – 131), field goals made (8th – 56), free throw attempts (32nd – 49), free throws made (30th – 38), total points (5th – 166), points per game (8th – 23.7), three-point attempts (37th – 47), total three-point field goals made (80th – 16) 
• Alex Stell –– total blocks (56th – 9), total rebounds (42nd – 55), offensive rebounds per game (22nd – 4.0), total rebounds per game (7.9) 
• Isaiah Davis –– three-point attempts (12th – 58), three-pointers made per game (4th – 4.1), total three-point field goals made (4th – 29) 

LOOKING AHEAD 

After McKendree wraps up in Springfield, they will take a week to prepare for their make-up game at Maryville University, which has been rescheduled to Thursday, December 11th with a 6:00 PM CT tip at the Moloney Arena in St. Louis, Missouri. 

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 can be purchased through Maryville's athletic website, with general admission going for $12 each. 

TUNE IN-FO 

DATE	TIME (CT)	HOME TEAM	AWAY TEAM	LIVE STATS	WATCH LIVE
12/2/25	7:30 PM	Illinois Springfield	McKendree	STATS	WATCH ($)

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