March 15, 2007

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Eric Palm scored 29 points and Mark Stovall added another 22, as McKendree (Ill.) knocked off sixth-seeded Mountain State (W. Va.) 86-80 in first round action at the 2007 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Championship in Kansas City's historic Municipal Auditorium.

With the win, McKendree (23-11) earns a second-round date with either Faulkner (Ala.) or San Diego Christian (Calif.), while Mountain State falls to 27-6 to end the 2006-07 season.

McKendree jumped out to a 13-6 lead with 14:27 to go in the first half after Mountain State scored the game's first four points. The Cougars fought back, closing the gap to one with 9:03 to go on a Paul Wright three, and with 5:37 to play, Jarvis Jackson used a fast-break lay-up to give Mountain the lead at 27-26.

A three by Palm put McKendree back up by two with 3:51 left in the first, and the Bearcats finished the half on a 12-7 run to take a 45-39 lead into the break.

A 6-2 clip out of the halftime locker room by Mountain State tied the game at 47-all with 15:48 to play, but McKendree's lead moved to 12 five minutes later when Palm drained another three to put McKendree up 64-52 with 10:38 remaining.

Mountain State put up a last-ditch run, twice cutting the lead to two points, but McKendree finished with six of the final eight points to come away with the six-point win. Mike Strobbe also finished with a double-double for the Bearcats, grabbing 11 rebounds and scoring 16, while Mountain State was led in the scoring column by 18 points from Wright, leading five players in double-digits.

Tyrice Watkins scored 15 for the Cougars and Yusuf Baker carded 13, while Ralph Legg finished with 10 and Jackson closed the game out with 12 points. McKendree was 25-of-28 from the foul line while shooting only 37.7 percent from the floor, and Mountain State finished at 45.8 percent on 33-of-72 shooting.

The game represented the third on the tourney's second day to feature an unseeded team knocking off a seeded opponent, while on day one all eight seeded squads advanced to the second round.