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Purdue Fort Wayne
Michigan State
No. 12 Michigan State Surges in Second Half
12/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2009
Box Score | Photo Gallery
East Lansing, MI – The 12th ranked Michigan State Spartans held IPFW to just 23 second half points in an 80-58 win on Saturday afternoon at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan.
The loss spoiled a career day for IPFW senior forward Deilvez Yearby who scored a game-high 25 points and hauled down a game-high 15 rebounds.
Michigan State (9-2) looked like they would run away and hide early on as they scored the game’s first 10 points. Senior forward Raymar Morgan and sophomore forward Delvon Roe staked the Spartans to a 16-point lead with back-to-back hoops that made it 25-9 with 7:47 remaining in the opening half.
But from that point the Mastodons came to life and over the final 4:30 of the half, IPFW went on a 17-7 run.
Yearby, junior guard Ben Botts and junior forward Oleg Kovalov each drilled 3-pointers, and Yearby hit a mid-range jumper at the end of the half to draw the ‘Dons to within seven at 42-35.
Unfortunately for the Mastodons, that was as close as they would get the rest of the way.
Morgan gave the Spartans back their double-digit lead with a fast break dunk and the ‘Dons turned the ball over 21 times as Michigan State pulled away for the 22-point win.
Morgan and Roe led the Spartans with 14 points each. Lucas finished with 10 as MSU hit 49.1% from the floor.
Yearby was the only Mastodon in double figures. His double-double was the second of the season.
Botts and freshman guard Brandon Gaines each chipped in nine. IPFW was also bolstered by the return of sophomore forward John Peckinpaugh and junior forward Oleg Kovalov. Peckinpaugh finished with six points and Kovalov with a 3-pointer and four rebounds.
IPFW shot just 31.1% from the field.
With the loss, IPFW falls to 3-6. They return to action on Tuesday night, hosting Valparaiso at the Memorial Coliseum. Tip off is 7:00 p.m.
~Dons~
