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Purdue Fort Wayne
Eastern Illinois
Mastodons Get Past Panthers in OT
11/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2008
Fort Wayne, IN - Senior forward David Carson tossed in 21 points to lead IPFW past visiting Eastern Illinois, 81-77 in overtime Saturday afternoon at the Memorial Coliseum.
None of Carson's points were bigger than the two he put on the board with :25 remaining in regulation. With the Mastodons trailing 69-67, Carson calmly stepped up and sank two free throws to tie the ball game.
Eastern Illinois had the final possession, but junior guard Romain Martin's jumper was short and time ran out as both teams scrambled for the ball.
In overtime, Carson gave IPFW a four-point lead with a mid-range baseline jumper and a layup.
The 'Dons would never trail in the extra session as freshman guard Jeremy Mixon hit a crucial 10-foot jumper in the paint with the shot clock winding down, and sophomore guard Zach Plackemeier drained a triple to send IPFW to its first win of the season.
The loss spoiled a furious comeback by the Panthers (1-2) who had fallen behind by as many as seven with just 6:49 remaining.
Eastern Illinois went on a 13-2 over a 4:29 stretch, sparked by some hot shooting from behind the arc to take a 69-65 lead before foul shots by sophomore guard Ben Botts and Carson sent it into the extra session.
"What a gutsy game for our guys to comeback down four with a minute or so to go," IPFW head coach Dane Fife said.
"I think this game was saved by our bench, and Zach Plackemeier defended Romain Martin and all but shut him down the last 12 minutes. I walked into the locker room after the game and told the team they owed Zach a debt of gratitude for saving their hind ends."
"Eastern Illinois is a much improved basketball team," he added. "They are going to do some damage in the Ohio Valley Conference, and I'll tell you what, we are certainly not looking forward to going to Charleston, Illinois a week from today."
Plackemeier also added a dimension on offense that the 'Dons had been lacking after two games. He dished out nine assists to go along with 12 important points on the afternoon.
Two other Mastodons who emerged as offensive weapons were junior Aaron Richie and Mixon.
Richie scored 11 points and did not miss an attempt on the afternoon from either the floor or foul line. His points helped IPFW to a 40-32 lead at the break.
Mixon added nine while wowing the IPFW crowd with a couple of acrobatic slashes to the hoop.
In all, four Mastodons hit for double-figures. Along with Carson's 21, IPFW got 15 from Botts, and the 12 from Richie and 11 from Plackemeier.
Martin, who was red-hot early on, finished the afternoon with a game-high 28 points including six 3-pointers. Forward Edin Suljic added 18.
Both teams shot extremely well with EIU outshooting IPFW, 50.8% to 50.0%. The 'Dons won the battle of the boards, 32-29.
IPFW improves to 1-2 on the season with the win. They will host IU-East, Tuesday night at the Coliseum, before heading to Charleston for a rematch with the Panthers on Saturday.
~Dons~
