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Freshman Boosts Bearcats to Victory: Eric Palm Has 19 Points, 5 Rebounds

Posted on: Sunday, 19 February 2006, 15:00 CST

By David Wilhelm, Belleville News-Democrat, Ill.

LEBANON -- After giving McKendree College a huge offensive lift Saturday, freshman Eric Palm made a key defensive contribution.

Palm tipped away an in-bounds pass with 10 seconds to play, helping the Bearcats escape with a 60-57 victory over Hannibal-LaGrange in an American Midwest Conference game.

It was the sixth consecutive win for McKendree, which improved its record to 16-12 overall and 7-3 in the AMC. The Trojans, who defeated the Bearcats 61-55 on Jan. 26 in Hannibal, Mo., slipped to 11-18 and 5-6.

"It was a good job," said Palm, who scored a career-high 19 points off the bench and chipped in with five rebounds. "A lot of it goes to getting screens and getting open. It takes everybody. I got open tonight and hit some good shots when I came in.

"I guess I was just feeling it."

Senior Brad Fischer of Breese had 14 points and junior Mike Strobbe had eight points and seven rebounds. Branko Veljovic led Hannibal-LaGrange with 15 points off the bench.

McKendree won despite senior Bryant Lyles scoring just four points before fouling out with 4:52 left in the game. Lyles was coming off a 30-point, 15-rebound performance a week earlier in an 81-77 overtime victory against visiting Columbia.

"I thought the break would help us," Bearcats coach Harry Statham said. "Maybe it didn't. We had been sharp, and we came out tonight not very sharp. Maybe that extra time was bad for us, I don't know. You never know how it's going to go."

McKendree led 50-40 with 16:02 to play after Strobbe scored underneath. But the Trojans tied it at 50 on a layup by Ouf Ameer with 5:59 to play.

That set the stage for a tense stretch drive that included three ties and the Bearcats' first deficit.

Kyle Hannel made four free throws to give the Trojans a 56-54 lead with 4:33 to play. McKendree tied it on Fischer's basket in the lane with 3:39 left, then went ahead 58-56 on two free throws by Palm at the 2:21 mark.

Hannibal-LaGrange got within 58-57 with 1:50 remaining before Mikey Vegar stole the ball from Fischer when Fischer attempted a behind-the-back dribble with 18 seconds left. The Trojans then called timeout with 10 seconds left to set up a final shot.

Palm, however, deflected the inbounds pass by Veljovic, and Fischer came up with the loose ball and was fouled. Fischer made two free throws to make it 60-57 with seven seconds left.

Josh Pickett's long 3-pointer from the left wing was no good with two seconds left, and time expired.

"I figured they were going to send someone in the backcourt and set up a play," Palm said. "So I jumped to the backcourt side and tried to deny that. Unfortunately for them, nobody was moving around to get open. (Veljovic) tried to throw it in the middle, and I jumped over and it hit my arm."

Statham said Palm has been playing with more confidence in recent weeks.

"He's playing very well right now," he said. "He gives us a lot of energy on both offense and defense. It's been a matter of relaxing a little bit. He's a very conscientious kid, so he doesn't like to make mistakes. He worried about that early on."

Contact reporter David Wilhelm at dwilhelm@bnd.com or 345-7822, ext. 22.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Belleville News-Democrat, Ill.

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Source: Belleville News-Democrat (Belleville, Ill.)

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