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Purdue Fort Wayne
Southern Utah
Mastodons Win First Summit League Playoff Game
3/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2008
Tulsa, OK - IPFW first venture into The Summit League men's basketball tournament was a successful one. Junior forward David Carson scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Mastodons past Southern Utah, 66-62 in quarterfinal action at the UMAC in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The win also set a record for IPFW. It is the third straight year that the Mastodons have broken a school record for Division I wins in a season (13).
IPFW got off to a quick start. Freshman guard Ben Botts and senior forward DeWitt Scott hit 3-pointers to put the Mastodons up five at, 6-1.
A triple by senior guard Demetrius Johnson gave IPFW its largest lead of the half at, 28-21.
Junior forward Tyler Quinney kept the Thunderbirds close in the half with 11 points, and on a pair of free throws from sophomore forward Rick Roberts, SUU tied the game at 30 at the half.
In the second half, junior forward Geoff Payne began to heat up. He opened the half with a layin, giving Southern Utah just their second lead of the game.
The 'Dons quickly erased that lead on another Botts trey.
Scott then converted a four-point play, drilling a three and getting fouled, then making the freebie.
Payne got loose inside again, cutting IPFW's lead to, 56-54 with just 4:26 left.
IPFW would kick it inside to Carson the rest of the way. The junior from Gary, Indiana got a soft layup to go making it, 62-58.
Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, they couldn't hit their foul shots when they needed to.
Payne missed all eight of his attempts in the game, four coming in the final two minutes.
IPFW, on the other hand, made theirs to win by four points.
Along with Carson's 17 points, IPFW got double-digit efforts from Scott and senior forward Jaraun Burrows who had 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Payne led SUU with 14. Quinny finished the game with 11.
SUU (11-19) outshot IPFW, 51.0% to 41.2%, but the 'Dons hit seven threes vs. two triples for the Thunderbirds.
With the win, IPFW will face off against the top seed Oral Roberts in Monday night's second semifinal. The game will tip at 7:00 p.m. in Fort Wayne and can be see live on CATV College Access 5.
~Dons~
