QUINCY, Ill. - The William Jewell men's basketball team closed the 2023 calendar year with an 87-70 victory over East-West University on Sunday afternoon on day two of the Hansen Spear Funeral Home Classic. In the win, which moves the Cardinals to 7-4 on the season, fifth year senior Kobe McKinley scored his 1,000th career point. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After going back-and-forth in the opening minutes, McKinley and Jordan Jermain took over, leading a 17-7 run to open up a 28-15 advantage with under six to go in the opening half. 
• East-West cut things down to nine late in the period, but a McKinley three at the buzzer gave the Cardinals a strong 39-22 lead at the intermission. 
• Jewell came out of the locker room hot, with a quick 8-2 run to push their lead to 23 less than three minutes into the second half. A steal from Justice Sutton led to a three by Isaac Patterson with 13:17 remaining to give the Cards their largest lead of the day at 63-33. 
• From there, East-West caught fire from long range, hitting seven threes over the next six minutes, going on a 28-6 run to close the gap to just eight. Three straight triples from Jermain and Trey Shannon pushed the lead back to 17 in the final minute to give the Cardinals the win. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Jermain led all scorers with 28 points while McKinley added 20 as both players were named to the All-Tournament Team. 
• McKinley, who also picked up a season best nine rebounds, became the 46th member of the 1,000 point club with his eighth point in the first half. 
• Grant Stubbs added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists while Shannon chipped in 12 points and a career high seven assists. 
• Jewell out-rebounded East-West 40-36 and handed out a season best 23 assists as a team. 

UP NEXT
Jewell returns to action after the break of the new year, traveling to Southwest Baptist on January 3.