JACKSON, Tenn. - The Union University men's basketball team posted an 89-75 victory over McKendree University Saturday afternoon at Fred DeLay Gymnasium, David Blackstock Court. Union improved to 6-3 on the season, while McKendree dropped to 4-3 overall. 

A 26-0 run for Union spanning the halftime break was the difference in the game.  

McKendree went up 36-26 on the Bulldogs with 3:35 left in the first half. Union used an 8-0 run to close the McKendree lead down to just two, 36-34, at the half. Just before the half, Union got 3-pointers from Payton Stovall and Cooper Meadows. Tylandrius Parks led Union in the first half with 14 points and seven rebounds. 

Union continued the hot hand out of the locker room with an 18-0 run to take control of the game. Union opened the second half with a 3-pointer each from Stovall, Meadows, and Terrandus Smith. Smith closed out the 26-0 run with his second 3-pointer of the run. 

Union led by as many as 20 points, 58-38, at the 13:16 mark of the second half. McKendree cut the Union lead down to just seven points, 60-53, with 10 minutes to play. But Union quickly got the lead back to double figures and maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game. Union outscored McKendree 55-39 in the second half. 

Union head coach David Niven said, "We knew tonight was going to be more of an opportunity to score the basketball with Tyree (Boykin) on the bench." Union's leading scorer Boykin missed his second straight game nursing an injury. Niven added, "Ty Parks really set the tone for us in the first half. He was really all we had. He had a lot of help in the second half. Ran (Terrandus Smith) just about single handedly went on a run to give us separation. In the last five minutes of the first half and the first 5-6 minutes of the second half, we played pretty exceptional basketball. Our coaches, Coach Bazzoli and Coach Sean did a great job preparing our scout team for this game."

Union was led by Parks with his seventh career double-double accumulating 26 points and 11 rebounds. Stovall added 18 points on 4-of-6 shooting from long range. Smith and LiDonta Hicks-Gentry added 16 points each. The Bulldogs shot 52 percent from the field, 50 percent (12-24) from 3-point range, and 77 percent (17-22) from the free throw line. 
 
McKendree was led by Logan Kohrmann with 31 points including four 3-pointers. Jakobie Robinson scored 10 points. The Bearcats shot 40 percent from the field, 31 percent (8-26) from long range, and 89 percent (23-26) form the free throw line. 

Up next for Union will be a GSC matchup at home versus Christian Brothers, Thursday, December 12 at 7:30 p.m.

-UNION-