Purdue Fort Wayne
South Dakota State
Mastodons Hit Century Mark in Grabbing First Conference Win
1/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN - IPFW got its first Summit League victory of the season, in dominating fashion on Friday night, beating South Dakota State 100-66 at the Memorial Coliseum. The Mastodons scored the first 10 points of the ball game and never looked back. Senior forward David Carson, coming off a career-high 25 point effort against North Dakota State on Wednesday, scored 20 first half points as the 'Dons posted a 55-18 lead at the half. South Dakota State come out and scored the first five points of the second half, but IPFW refused to let the Jackrabbits back into the contest. Sophomore guard Ben Botts ripped his second 3-pointer of the game and junior forward Deilvez Yearby drove the baseline for a thunderous slam as the Mastodons then cruised to the 34-point win. "I think the key to tonight was coming out and playing defense with confidence," IPFW head coach Dane Fife said. "This was probably Dave's (Carson) best game at IPFW this year. I thought we rebounded really well. It was just a really good all-around game. We made some shots, there was a lot of good movement, and it just felt like we had South Dakota State on their heels the whole night." Carson finished the night with his second double-double of the season with 24 points and 10 rebounds. He also dished out four assists. Yearby had a career-high 18 points and was a rebound shy of a double-double with nine. Yearby rejected five South Dakota State shots. That ties him for fourth in school history for in blocks in a game. In all, five Mastodons hit for double-digits. Senior guard Jakari Johnson, seeing his first significant action of the year, had 17 points, six rebounds and three steals. Freshman guard/forward John Peckinpaugh added a career-high 11 points and Botts chipped in 10. IPFW shot 53.5% from the floor while holding the Jackrabbits (6-10, 1-3 SL) to 39.7%. The Mastodons outrebounded SDSU, 42-29. Junior guard Garrett Callahan led South Dakota State with 12 points. Junior forward Kai Williams added 10. With the win, IPFW improves to 6-9 and 1-3 in The Summit League. The Mastodons head back on the road for their next two games. They travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma to face Oral Roberts on Thursday (1/8) and then to Shreveport, Louisiana for a game against Centenary on Saturday (1/10). ~Dons~
