LEBANON, Ill. – The men's basketball team won handily on senior day and earned themselves a bid to the GLVC Championship Tournament against Southwest Baptist University in Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) action on Saturday, March 1st at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Illinois. 

Score: McKendree University 76, Southwest Baptist University 54 

Record: McK Bearcats 14-13, 11-9 GLVC | SBU Bearcats 7-19, 4-16 GLVC 

HOW IT HAPPENED

It would be SBU versus McKendree senior forward Hayden Meakes (Adelaide, Australia) for the first few minutes of action as the Bearcats from Bolivar, Missouri would hit the long balls and and-one opportunities while Meakes utilized his go-to hook shots for his squad's first four points. After SBU extended their lead to seven midway through the first half, McKendree junior guard Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.) would finally catch on with his shooting from beyond the arc in sinking a pair of three-pointers in back-to-back possessions while sophomore guard Justin King (Mascoutah, Ill.) drilled in a third consecutive three for the team as they pulled within four despite the opposing scoring output in the early going. 

An 11-0 McKendree spurt headlined by senior guard Joey Niesman (Oswego, Ill.) with eight of those points, plus a three-ball from sophomore guard Luka Mateski (Belgrade, Serbia) gave McKendree back the lead to go up by nine. Both sides would tread evenly down the stretch in the first half as McKendree would have the comfortable 35-26 edge heading into the extended break. 

Much like the first half, Meakes would start out the second with his team's first four points as they try to keep fending off a feisty SBU squad. Senior guard Destin Whitaker (Romeoville, Ill.) later connected on back-to-back triples to widen the McKendree margin to 20 with still a bit over 10 minutes remaining in regulation. 

The visiting Bearcats continued to battle the Bearcats of McKendree as they kept hanging around waiting for the best chance to take a last push. However, McKendree would hold serve as they enacted on a 13-2 run in the final moments of regulation with Mateski notching a three and an and-one conversion while junior guard Landon Zurliene (Fairfield, Ill.) got a three of his own and junior forward Noah Franklin hyped up the crowd at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center with a ferocious dunk to extend their lead to 28. Freshman guard Grant Fridley (Trenton, Ill.) would seal the deal with a three-point shot of his own to grab their first win against SBU at home in the series history, 76-54. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Mateski led all scorers with a career-high 21 points on 6-10 shooting overall, 2-3 from three, and a perfect 7-7 from the line along with nine rebounds and a pair of assists with no fouls or turnovers. 

• Niesman finished with 10 points on 4-8 from the field and 2-6 from deep with two rebounds, assists, and steals. 

• Meakes also had 10 points on the night to go with his pair of rebounds. 

• SBU sophomore guard Jevin Sullivan led his team with 14 points along with four rebounds, two steals, and an assist. 

• McKendree shot 48.3% from the field and 35.3% from distance with 100% from the stripe while SBU ended with 35.2%, 30.0%, and 58.2% respectively. 

• McKendree was +4 in points off of turnovers, +13 in bench points, +8 in points inside the paints, and +2 in second-chance points. 

• SBU was +4 in fast break points. 

• This is the second time this season that McKendree went a perfect 100% from the line. 

• The program's 11-9 mark in the GLVC this season is their best since the 2022-23 season, where they posted the same record. 

SENIOR DAY

McKendree University athletics took a moment to recognize six soon-to-be Bearcat graduates from the men's basketball program in captain Joey Niesman (Oswego, Ill.), captain Kevin Stein (Chester, N.Y.), Jacksen Harre (Okawville, Ill.), captain Hayden Meakes (Adelaide, Australia), captain Destin Whitaker (Romeoville, Ill.), and Landon Zurliene (Fairfield, Ill.) where these individuals showed determination, heart, and grit these past several years. As their time at McKendree may be coming to a close, they will forever be engraved as part of the Bearcat family. 

UP NEXT

With Saturday's win against SBU, McKendree has clinched their way into this year's GLVC Championship Tournament as an eight seed, which will be held at the Hyland Arena on the Campus of Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. There, they will take on the one seed and number eight team in the country – Missouri S&T – at 12:00 PM CT on Thursday, March 6th. 

GLVC CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

The four quarterfinal winners will compete in the semifinals on Saturday, March 8, at 12 and 2:15 PM, while the semifinal winners will compete for the 2025 trophy on Sunday, Mar. 9 at 1 PM. 
  
For the fourth year in a row, all GLVC Championship Tournament action will be streamed live for $12 per game or $35 for the full tournament on GLVCSN.com, the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile apps, and GLVCSN OTT apps on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV. More broadcast details will be shared the week of the event. 
  
All spectators attending in person will be required to pre-purchase tickets online at GLVCsports.com/tickets. No cash will be accepted on site. 
  
For further information regarding the Conference Championship Tournament, visit GLVCsports.com/2025mbb and follow along via the league's official Twitter accounts at @GLVCsports and @GLVCSN, as well as the hashtags #GLVCmbb and #GLVCchamps. Additional coverage can be found on the GLVC's Instagram account, @glvcsports 

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