(KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 20)-For the third time in school history, the McKendree University men's basketball team has reached the quarterfinal round of the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship.

Freshman forward Sean Rakers (New Baden, Ill./Wesclin) came off the bench to post 19 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore forward Eric Hobbie (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) also collected a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to help McKendree to its 23^rd win in its last 24 games. Freshman guard Karrington Pettiford (Florissant, Mo./Christian Brothers) also netted 10 points in a reserve role

The Bearcats, seeded seventh in this year's 32-team field, improves to 30-5 on the year, marking the sixth time in program history that McKendree has recorded 30 wins in a season. McKendree will square off with unseeded MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) in the last of four tournament semifinal contests Saturday at 8 p.m. CDT. This is the third time the Bearcats have reached the national quarterfinals, with previous appearances in 1997 and 2003.

"We're a young team, but we didn't play like it tonight," said McKendree head coach Harry Statham, who picked up career win No. 995 in his 43-year career. "We showed a lot of poise out there. Our freshmen really stepped up and have made key contributions that have put us in this position. I think this was a game where our balance and depth really showed."

Texas Wesleyan, the tournament's No. 10 seed, raced to a 14-4 lead and eventually stretched the margin to 25-13 following a basket and free throw by Chris Berry with 9:43 left in the first half. McKendree started to chip away at the deficit, and a three-pointer by Pettiford capped an 11-1 run that brought the Bearcats within 26-24 at the 7:19 mark.

McKendree took its first lead of the night at 36-34 when sophomore forward Brad Copelin (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) scored in the lane with just over three minutes remaining in the half. Texas Wesleyan pulled even again at 38-38 when Hobbie took the rebound off a miss by Palm and slammed it home to put the Bearcats back in front. Then, on the next possession, Hobbie drained a three-pointer from the wing to extend the margin to 43-38 just 90 seconds from the half.

However, the Rams' Terrell Henry took a pass off a steal and responded with his own dunk just before the buzzer sounded to bring Texas Wesleyan within 43-40 at the intermission.

In the second half, the contest remained close with four ties and six lead changes. Texas Wesleyan used a 6-0 run to grab its final lead of the night, 61-57, with just over nine minutes to play. Palm then scored six points during an 8-0 spurt that pushed McKendree back in front, 61-57. The Rams rallied to within one point on two different occasions, but would come no closer. The Bearcats sealed the win thanks to another 8-0 run to build its biggest lead of the night, 85-72, with 1:11 left.

Both teams were active at the free throw line, as the Bearcats were 40-of-49 from the stripe (81.6 percent) and the Rams hit 27-of-37 attempts (73 percent). In addition, McKendree held a 48-34 edge on the boards against Texas Wesleyan. Palm matched a career-high by hitting 16-of-17 free throw attempts, while Hobbie was 8-of-10 from the line and Pettiford hit 7-of-8 tries from the foul line.

Friday's contest was a rematch of the Bearcats' first-round tournament match-up from last season, when the Bearcats outlasted Texas Wesleyan, 73-71.

Berry poured in a game-high 36 points to show the way for Texas Wesleyan, which ends its year with a record of 29-5. Berry was 17-of-20 from the free throw line. Kennith Gober netted 13 points with four assists while Ryan Barnes and Terrell Henry each posted 10 points.

-McK-