ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The RV and three-seed men's basketball team picked up their fifth-ever GLVC Championship Tournament win, and the first since the 2022-23 season, as the Bearcats pushed their way past the three-seed University of Illinois Springfield in the tournament quarterfinals at the Mark Twain Building in St. Louis, Missouri on Friday, March 6th.
Score: McKendree University 89, University of Illinois Springfield 63
Record: Bearcats 22-7, 14-6 GLVC | Prairie Stars 17-12, 13-7 GLVC
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a three-point barrage to start the quarterfinal matchup in St. Louis, with McKendree canning three of them on their first five shot attempts to take an early three-point lead. Senior guard Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.) subsequently drove inside for the lay-in after knocking in a pair of the trio of long-distance shots.
A breakaway slam by sophomore forward Joshua Schönbäck (Kierling, Austria) made it a 12-2 run by the Bearcats to extend their lead to double digits in no time. The battle from the arc made its rounds again at the 12-minute mark, and for the next seven minutes of gameplay, a total of 10 three-pointers – five each – from both teams swooshed through the net with McKendree still ahead by 14 points on their opposition.
As the first half of action started to wind down, the Bearcats would pay their dues at the charity strip for a plethora of freebies as UIS was called for the technical foul after a regular shooting penalty that had Woods sink a quad of free throws. A foul by McKendree on the defensive end with a few ticks sent Prairie Star guard Jordan Rice to the line after a three-point attempt to drain a trio of single-point shots as the Bearcats would lead comfortably 48-34 at halftime.
The miscue to end the initial half did not resonate deep enough into the McKendree minds, as the six-seed squad opened up half number two with 11 unanswered points, with Woods getting to 15 in the contest as freshman guard Andrew Moore (Montgomery County, Mo.) contributed on four during the stretch. Down by 23, the Prairie Stars would chip away to cut their deficit to 20, but McKendree had other ideas, as they utilized a 13-2 run, fueled by their bigs in getting down low and earning their points the hard way to extend the lead by 31 at 75-44.
With the final moments winding down in an already decided game, Head Coach George Suggs subbed in redshirt freshman guard Jackson Wors (Muncie, Ind.), who would immediately toss in a fading floater in the paint and on the next possession canning a corner three in front of his own bench to liven the crowd. Schönbäck drilled one more three from the opposite corner to seal the deal and take down their in-state foe UIS in St. Louis, 89-63, to move onto semifinal action
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Woods led the way with five Bearcats scoring in double figures, as the senior had 18 on the evening on 4-for-8 (50.0%) shooting, along with four rebounds and a steal.
• Harris – a first team All-GLVC selection with Woods – followed with 13 points on 5-for-8 (62.5%) scoring while collecting nine boards and dishing out four assists.
• Moore, Schönbäck, and fifth-year forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) each tabbed 11 points in the win, with each corralling at least six rebounds for 19 total amongst the trio, plus four assists and a pair of steals combined. Franklin has now surpassed 1,000 career points with his production tonight.
• McKendree shot 50.0% from the field, 46.2% from deep, and 85.2% from the line.
• The Bearcats outrebounded UIS 41-25, their third-largest margin of the season.
• McKendree led in points off turnovers (19-9), second chance points (20-6), bench points (30-19), and points in the paint (30-18).
• The team's 12 made three-pointers were the most all season, and the most since dropping 12 versus Southwest Baptist University on March 1st of 2025.
• The 48 points in the first half were their most in the opening period all season.
• This is the 16th matchup this season that has been decided by 11+ points, as McKendree moves to 15-1 in games that end up in that margin.
• The 17 combined threes in the first half were the most in a GLVC half since 2016.
• McKendree's 28-point margin was the largest margin of victory in the GLVC Tournament since 2022.
• This is the Bearcats' second-ever GLVC quarterfinal win, with their previous coming in the 2023 Tournament, in which the Bearcats won their first-ever GLVC Championship.
• The program now moves to 5-5 in the GLVC Championship Tournament since joining the league back in 2012-13.
UP NEXT
McKendree has advanced to the GLVC Semifinals, which will be played tomorrow on Saturday, March 7th at 7:45 PM CT inside the Mark Twain Building in St. Louis, Missouri against the two-seed Cardinals of William Jewell College. Should they win, they will earn a spot in the conference championship game at 3:30 PM CT on Sunday in the same location.
All tournament contests can be tuned in live or on-demand on GLVC Sports Network with a subscription/download purchase required, as live stats will also be provided. Tickets can be purchased at glvcsports.com.
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