QUINCY, Ill. – The men's basketball team led wire-to-wire en route to an in-state victory against Quincy University in Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) action on Thursday, February 20th at the Pepsi Arena in Quincy, Illinois. 

Score: McKendree University 76, Quincy University 62 

Record: Bearcats 12-12, 9-8 GLVC | Hawks 8-17, 3-14 GLVC 

HOW IT HAPPENED

McKendree came into the hostile territory blazing hot from the floor, where they kicked things off with a huge 17-4 run as junior forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) got inside for a quad of lay-ins plus a three-pointer as senior guard Destin Whitaker (Romeoville, Ill.) dropped in two threes of his own. Moments later, Quincy junior forward Logan Robbins got himself a pair of layups on back-to-back possessions, but the Bearcats were there again on the attack, knocking down four three-point shots in their next five possessions to widen their lead to 16. 

As the Hawks' point of emphasis was to attack the paint, the Bearcats kept letting it rip from beyond the arc. McKendree capped the first half off with helpful 13-7 run, which was contributed by a five-point swing from Franklin to put himself at 21 points at the half with his squad leading comfortably, 48-31. 

Seeing themselves down by a large margin, Quincy flipped the script in their playbook and began half number two on a 13-5 run, sinking a trio of three-pointers with two from freshman guard Max Booher and the other from junior guard Camren Kincaid. The Hawks nailed another pair of treys a few possessions later from Booher and junior guard El Sieger to bring the team to within six points. 

However, the Bearcats would not be denied of their pouncing of the Hawks, as they ignited a monumental 15-4 run over the next six and a half minutes of action via a plethora of converted free throws. Senior guard Kevin Stein (Chester, N.Y.) put the game away with McKendree's 11th three-pointer of the game, plus an inside layup to snatch the must-win matchup, 76-62. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Franklin's 28 points in the win is a career-high for the redshirt junior, as he shot an efficient 11-13 from the field including a perfect 3-3 from three and 3-4 from the charity stripe along with nine rebounds and an assist. 

• Whitaker continues to shoot with stride, going 3-7 from deep to obtain a dozen points with an assist, a block, and an assist. 

• Freshman forward Rini Harris (O'Fallon, Ill.) had a quiet 10 points for McKendree while going 5-6 from the line as he corralled four rebounds. 

• Booher led Quincy with 12 points on the night, which included a 4-9 mark from three as he came away with a trio of rebounds plus an assist. 

• McKendree shot 53.1% from the field, 50.0% from distance, and 65.0% from the stripe while the Hawks ended with 40.7%, 33.3%, and 62.5% respectively. 

• In the win, the Bearcats were +2 in points inside the paint. 

• Quincy was +8 in points off of turnovers, +12 in second-chance points, and +3 in fast break points. 

• Both teams each had 17 bench points on the night. 

• Franklin's 11 field goals made are tied for the most this season by a Bearcat since Stein had the same number on January 23rd against Lincoln University (Mo.). 

UP NEXT

McKendree will be back on the court on Saturday, February 22nd, when they stay on the road to take on Upper Iowa University at the Dorman Memorial Gymnasium, with tip-off set for 3:00 PM CT. 

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