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Purdue Fort Wayne
South Dakota State
Mastodons Make it Two Straight
2/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2007
Fort Wayne, IN-Playing within the familiar confines of the Hilliard Gates Sport Center for the first time in four years, IPFW overcame a sluggish first half to top future Mid-Con foe South Dakota State, 68-52 on Saturday night.
IPFW practices at the Gates Center, but it was the Jackrabbits who looked at home, hitting 53.8% of their shots in the first half.
Sophomore guard Matt Cadwell drained a 17-footer giving the Jacks a 28-21 lead with 7:07 left in the opening half.
The Mastodons drew to within two on a thunderous slam by junior forward Jaraun Burrows that made it 30-28, but the Jackrabbits ended the half on a 3-0 run to take a 33-28 lead.
In the the second half, the Mastodons looked for a way to negate the outside shooting of South Dakota State and switching defensive looks. The move paid off.
Junior guard Demetrius Johnson got a lay-up in transition giving IPFW a 44-41 lead.
Then the 'Dons began to dial it up from long distance. 6-10 junior forward Zeljko Egeric hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and IPFW's lead began to balloon.
Senior forward Tyler Best got a couple of tough baskets inside to give the Mastodons a 58-48 lead with just under four minutes left.
All that was left was for IPFW to hit its foul shots down the stretch, and they did for the 16-point win.
South Dakota State freshman forward Kai Williams led all scorers in the game with 19 points. He also had nine rebounds.
IPFW (9-15) was led by Burrows' 15 points and eight rebounds.
Best chipped in 13 points and Demetrius Johnson added 12.
The Mastodon defense held South Dakota State (5-19) to just 19 second half points on 20.8% (5-24) shooting.
The 'Dons shot 55% in the second half and finished the night at 45.7%.
After not winning a game in which they trailed all season, IPFW has now won two-in-a-row while coming for behind.
The Mastodons' next contest will be next Saturday (2/17) at New Jersey Tech. Game time is 4:00pm.
~Dons~
