Feb. 22, 2008

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Six different McKendree (Ill.) University players recorded career superlatives as the Bearcat men's basketball team rolled to a 113-46 victory Monday (Dec. 10) at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.

The Bearcats won their fifth consecutive game to take a 10-4 record into the holiday break. McKendree, the No. 20 team in NAIA Division I, will return to action Jan. 5 with its final non-conference game of the season at Indiana University-South Bend. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

The biggest milestone in Monday's victory was posted by junior guard Eric Palm, who became the 42nd player in McKendree men's basketball history to score 1,000 points in a career. Palm (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) reached the mark on a three-point field goal with 6:20 left in the first half. Palm finished the night with 12 points, giving him 1,006 at McKendree.

Freshman forward Brad Copelin (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) established new career highs with a team-best 26 points and 13 rebounds in the effort. Others recording career-high scoring totals against the Preachers were senior forward Rod Steele (Birmingham, Ala./Shades Valley) with 14 points and junior forward John Ruesler (Bridgeton, Mo./DeSmet) with eight points.

Sophomore forward Ken Detmer (Aviston, Ill./Breese Central) chipped in with 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for McKendree, while freshman guard Andy Wolff (Centralia, Ill./Metro-East Lutheran) had the other career-high performance for the Bearcats with 10 assists. Freshman forward Eric Hobbie (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) chipped in with 19 points, nine rebounds and a team-leading three blocked shots for McKendree.

As a team, the Bearcats shot 59.7 percent (46-of-77) from the field, including a 12-of-21 clip from three-point range. McKendree also held a 57-22 edge in rebounding against the Preachers.

McKendree roared from the gates quickly in the contest, opening the game with a 24-3 run. All nine Bearcat players scored in the first half as the lead continued to grow. McKendree hit nine of its first 10 shots from beyond the arc on its way to a 66-27 lead at the half. The Bearcats were just as hot to start the second half, outscoring Concordia 23-5 in the first 11 minutes of the period.

Steve Carretto and Chris Kennedy shared team-high scoring honors for Concordia with 10 points each. Kennedy also pulled down a team-leading six rebounds