Posted by Scott Cummings - Thu, Mar 20, 2008 - [ Men's Basketball ] - Viewed 129 times
Eric Hobbie slams home two of his 17 points (Photo courtesy of Creative Images Photography)
Eric Hobbie slams home two of his 17 points (Photo courtesy of Creative Images Photography)
(KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 20)—Junior guard Eric Palm (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) poured in a game-high 29 points to lead the McKendree University men’s basketball team to a 73-71 victory over Texas Wesleyan University Thursday in the first round of the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship. The 32-team tournament is being played at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.

Palm added a game-high seven assists and was 10-of-11 from the free throw line as the Bearcats advance to the second round of the national tournament for the second consecutive year. McKendree, the No. 11 seed in the 32-team field, won its eighth consecutive game to improve to 27-6 on the year. The Bearcats will next play Friday at 2:15 p.m. CST against either Campbellsville University (Ky.) or Concordia University (Calif.).

“(Eric) is a veteran player for us,” said McKendree head coach Harry Statham. “Eric played with a lot of confidence today, and I think the rest of the guys followed that lead. He didn’t press and played an intelligent game. When he wasn’t hitting shots on the outside, he was getting to the basket and getting to the free throw line.”

Freshman forward Eric Hobbie (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) added a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for McKendree, while sophomore forward Ken Detmer (Aviston, Ill./Breese Central) finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Texas Wesleyan (20-12) jumped out to an 8-0 lead, thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Kennith Gober. Following a timeout, McKendree regrouped and answered with a 13-2 run to grab its first lead of the contest, 13-10, at the 14:30 mark. Hobbie drilled a three-pointer to cap the spurt for the Bearcats.

McKendree built its largest lead of the half, 29-22, when senior guard T.J. Stone (Hendersonville, Tenn./People’s Academy) knocked down a three-point shot with 6:47 left in the period. Texas Wesleyan then scored the next nine points to take a 31-29 lead. The Bearcats regained the lead late in the half, and a jumper by Palm just before the buzzer gave McKendree a 41-38 lead at the intermission.

In the second half, McKendree slowly increased its lead, and held a 70-59 advantage with just over three minutes remaining. Texas Wesleyan put together one final rally, using a 9-1 run to pull within 71-68 with 50 seconds on the clock. Following a Bearcat turnover, the Rams had a chance to tie the contest, but missed a pair of shots. Palm grabbed the rebound following the second miss and was fouled. Palm sealed the McKendree victory by hitting both free throw attempts with 11.2 seconds to play.

Dane Dmitrovic led Texas Wesleyan with 20 points, while Dalane Finley came off the bench to post 17 points and six rebounds. Gober added 14 points for the Rams, who were making their first NAIA Tournament visit since winning the national title two years ago.

This marks the seventh time in 12 NAIA tournament appearances that McKendree has won its first-round game.