LEBANON, Ill. – The RV men's basketball team took it to overtime to win their 20th of the season against the Peacocks of Upper Iowa University 81-76 on Thursday, February 19th at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Illinois in GLVC action.
Score: McKendree University 81, Upper Iowa University 76 (OT)
Record: Bearcats 20-5, 13-4 GLVC | Peacocks 16-9, 11-7 GLVC
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sophomore forward Wyatt Zellers (Scottsburg, Ind.) fired away with his 18th triple of the season within the opening minutes of play, and right before Upper Iowa got going on their end of the floor with an 8-0 spurt. Yet it would not take long for McKendree to respond, as they did one better with a 9-0 run to take the four-point lead and hold the Peacocks to nearly six minutes without a basket.
A little back-and-forth action took place in the proceeding moments, including a little dunk fest with Zellers throwing down the two-handed slam off a pocket pass from freshman guard Andrew Moore (Montgomery County, Mo.). As The Peacocks got back to within one with under nine minutes left of the half, the Bearcats enacted on yet another run to separate themselves by scoring 10 straight with senior guard Caleb Burton (O'Fallon, Ill.) starting with three consecutive layups inside, while other guards Justin King (Mascoutah, Ill.) and Moore followed suit with one each of their own.
With McKendree still relying on points in the paint, Upper Iowa capitalized on a 15-7 spread by going 5-for-6 from the field in the final five minutes of the first half, including a last-second turnaround jumper by the Peacocks before the horn sounded, with the Bearcats up front 33-30.
Much like how Upper Iowa ended half number one, they opened up the second almost identically with a 16-7 spurt to go up by six. 13 of the Bearcats' next 15 points came from the charity stripe, while they try to keep within striking difference.
Then, Moore took the team on his back in scoring seven of their last nine points to erase a seven point deficit after converting an and-one basket and a second chance lay-in off a self-missed shot with 15 ticks remaining to tie it up at 65-all. And a sound defensive stance kept the Peacocks from getting a last-second shot to go in, and forced overtime.
Burton wasted no time in setting the tone in the extra period by nailing a shot from the corner, as sophomore guard Rini Harris (O'Fallon, Ill.) muscled his way through contact to take the five-point edge. After Upper Iowa answered with a couple of made three-pointers, the fifth-year forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) also powered one in and drew the foul for the old-fashioned three-point play.
A layup by Burton with 39 seconds left helped put the game away, along with converting their dues at the line to pull off the comeback in overtime 81-76.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Burton made a personal McKendree-high 18 points on the evening on 5-for-7 (71.4%) shooting with five rebounds, two steals, and a block.
• Harris put up his second career double-double of 16 points and 10 boards to go with four assists and a pair of blocked shots.
• Franklin and Moore dropped in 12 and 11 points, respectively, as the former corralled six rebounds, while the latter got four boards and a trio of assists.
• McKendree shot 51.0% from the field, 20.0% from deep, and 83.9% from the line.
• The Bearcats outrebounded the Peacocks 37-29.
• It is the 10th time McKendree has made at least 50.0% of their field goal attempts.
• The Bearcats held the advantage in points in the paint (44-22) and bench points (28-8).
• This is just the second time in McKendree's NCAA Division II era that they have won 20 games in a single season, and the first time of hitting the plateau within the regular season alone.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action on Saturday, February 19th, for the team's Senior Day as they take on Quincy University at 3:00 PM CT inside the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Illinois.
Fans can tune in live or on-demand on the Bearcats' GLVC Sports Network with a subscription/download purchase required, as live stats will also be provided. Tickets can be purchased at mckbearcats.com.
Keep up with McKendree University Men's Basketball on Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram. #GLVCmbb | #D2mbb
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