Bearcats Statham needs victory to tie Summitt

The McKendree University men’s basketball team tips off the second half of its 2016 Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule as coach Harry Statham enters the tilt with 1,097 career victories at McKendree.

Statham is one win shy of the all-time mark for college basketball victories at the four-year level — men’s or women’s, all divisions — which was established by former University of Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summitt. She retired with 1,098 career triumphs following the 2011-12 season.

The Bearcats will host the University of Wisconsin-Parkside at 7:30 p.m.Thursday evening.The game can be seen live on the Bearcat Sports Network at www.mckbearcats.com/watch.

McKendree enters Thursday’s contest against UW-Parkside, the No. 21-ranked team in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, with a 9-8 overall record and a 2-7 mark in league play. The Bearcats dropped a pair of hard-fought games last week in Indiana as they were defeated last Thursday at Saint Joseph’s College, 79-73, before being edged in a 78-75 heartbreaker at the University of Indianapolis. In both games, McKendree held the halftime lead and was in front of both opponents with less than five minutes to play. It took a three-point shot by UIndy’s Jordan Loyd with 1.3 seconds on the clock to break a 75-75 tie in the Bearcats’ most recent outing.

Against Indianapolis, David Franklin (Althoff) posted a game-high 25 points to lead McKendree in the scoring column. Nate Michael added 16 points while Darin Winkelman chipped in with 16 points. Franklin continues to rank among the top scorers in the conference. He is fourth in the league at 18.1 points per game, while he sits 10th in the GLVC in rebounding at 7.8 per outing. Franklin sits in the top 10 in the GLVC in five different statistical categories. Michael is 10th in the conference in free throw percentage at .852, while Winkelman is 10th among all GLVC players in defensive rebounds.

The contest at Indianapolis also marked McKendree’s final true road swing of the 2015-16 season.

Beginning with Thursday’s game against UW-Parkside, the Bearcats will play seven of their final nine regular-season tilts in the friendly confines of the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. After facing Lewis on Saturday, McKendree will make the short trip twice to St. Louis next week for games at the University of Missouri-St. Louis on Feb. 4 and at Maryville University on Feb. 6.

The Bearcats will close the regular-season campaign with a five-game home stand.

LU-Belleville Lynx

The Lindenwood University-Belleville men’s basketball team will look to get back to its winning ways on Thursday night, as the Lynx face the St. Louis College of Pharmacy Eutectics. Tip-off for the American Midwest Conference tilt starts at 7:30 p.m. at St. Louis Community College.

The Lynx (9-11; 6-7 AMC) back on Dec. 3 dominated from start-to-finish against the Eutectics (0-16; 0-13 AMC) winning 100-37. The team shot 55.3 percent from the floor, while making a single-game high 42 field-goal attempts.

Eleven Lynx players totaled a minimum of five points in the outing, with Andrew Douby going 7-of-12 from the floor and finishing with 15 points in just over 20 minutes of action. ShunQuez Stephens meanwhile, collected a double-double, having 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Defensively, LU-Belleville held the Eutectics to a field goal percentage of 25.8 percent, 3-point percentage of 5.6, forced 11 turnovers, and outrebounded them 63-27.

In its last game, LU-Belleville, despite scoring a single-game high 60 points in the second half, were unable to catch No. 17-ranked Freed-Hardeman, and lost 105-93.

The Lynx shot 40.7 percent from the floor and were led by Stephens’ 29 points and 19 rebound outburst. Sean McGee added 21 points and a team-high six assists, while Nate Sims went a perfect 7-of-7 from the line to finish with 14 points.

Before the men’s game, the LU-Belleville women’s basketball team will look to capture a road win against St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Tip-off starts at 5:30 p.m. In their Dec. 3 meeting, the Lady Lynx (6-14; 6-8 AMC) hosted the Eutectics (1-14; 0-14) and were able to cruise to a 78-55 victory. LU-Belleville was led by Kindra Brown's double-double performance, as she totaled 21 points and 10 boards.

SIUE

The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Cougars begin the first of a four-game homestand Thursday against Southeast Missouri in an Ohio Valley Conference game. It is the longest of the season for the Cougars (4-16, 1-7).

Southeast Missouri is (4-16, 1-6) coming off its only OVC win, a 68-60 win at UT Martin. Of the Redhawks' four win, two are against Division I opponents. Antonius Cleveland is the team leader at 14.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.

The Redhawks hold a 15-8 edge in the series which dates to when both teams were Division II. SIUE has won the last three in the series.

In SIUE’s last game, Murray State defeated the Cougars 70-54 in OVC outing.

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Bearcats Statham needs victory to tie Summitt."