Purdue Fort Wayne
Western Illinois
Huge Run Propels IPFW past Western Illinois
1/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN - IPFW ripped off a 21-4 run midway through the second half and coasted to an 80-71 win over visiting Western Illinois on Thursday night at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center.
At the 15:44 mark of the second session, IPFW trailed WIU 46-41.
A layup by junior guard Nick Daniels and two buckets by senior forward David Carson drew the Mastodons to within one.
From there the 'Dons used the comfort of familiar rims to knock down three consecutive 3-pointers. Junior guard Ben Botts started it off, Carson stepped behind the line and drained one, and freshman forward John Peckinpaugh found the range from the deep left corner.
Freshman forward Trey McCorkle ended the run for IPFW with a 15 foot jumper from the top of the key to give IPFW its biggest lead of the game, 62-50.
All the 'Dons had to do down the stretch was hit their free throws and Daniels sank six of them to seal the victory.
"I give our guys a lot of credit for getting the job done," IPFW head coach Dane Fife said. "We had some free throws we made down the stretch. I think Western Illinois is really dangerous, just like us two similar teams, and I don't look forward to going to Macomb (Illinois) here in the next month."
It was apparent both teams enjoyed the friendly confines of the Hilliard Gates Sports Center. Western Illinois shot 62.5% in the game while IPFW hit 62.2% of its shots in the contest.
"Everybody in here was in more of a comfort zone," Ben Botts said. "The fans were louder, we're playing on the rims that we're on every day. I felt better, and I think everybody did."
Botts definitely felt good with 20 points and three assists. However, that wasn't game high for IPFW. Those honors went to David Carson with 23 points.
Carson and Botts were joined in double figures by Daniels and sophomore guard Zach Plackemeier who tossed in 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Western Illinois (6-13, 3-5) was led by senior David DuBois who finished with 25 points on 11-15 shooting from the floor.
There were just 31 total rebounds in the game. WIU won the battle of the boards, 16-15.
The Mastodons caused 17 Leatherneck' turnovers while the 'Dons turned it over just nine times against 18 assists. Plackemeier dished out six of those.
With the win, IPFW improves to 8-11 and 3-5 in Summit League play.
IPFW will host IUPUI (9-10, 2-6), who lost 75-57 at Oakland Thursday evening, on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
That game will be part of a men's/women's double header that begins at 1:30 p.m. It will be a "White Out" afternoon with the first 750 fans getting a free "White Out" T-shirt courtesy of Universitees and the IU Credit Union.
~Dons~
