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Purdue Fort Wayne
Oakland
Oakland Pulls Away from IPFW for Summit League Sweep
2/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2009
Rochester, MI - Oakland used a 12-0 run early in the second half to outdistance IPFW, 83-72 at the O'Rena on Saturday night. The win gave Oakland a season sweep of the Mastodons.
The Golden Grizzlies run came after IPFW had taken it first and only lead of the game on a 3-pointer from senior forward David Carson. Carson's triple gave the Mastodons a 48-47 advantage at the 14:04 mark.
From that point, reserve guard Blake Cushingberry dropped in a triple of his own to go along with a mid-range jumper and sophomore center Keith Benson got free inside for a slam and foul shot, The fatal three minute stretch sealed the fate of IPFW who had battled back from nine point deficits on four occasions in the first half to trail by just three at the half, 37-34.
Oakland (16-11, 9-5 SL) was content to trade baskets the rest of the way, with Benson leading the way with a game-high 23 points, He also had nine rebounds and six blocked shots.
IPFW did a nice job of holding Erik Kangas in check. Kangas scored 39 in Oakland's 93-88 win over IPFW in early January at the Memorial Coliseum but was held to 13 on the evening.
Four Golden Grizzlies scored in double digits, but the greatest contribution to the OU victory may have been from the reigning Summit League Player of the Week, Johnathon Jones. Jones dished out a career-high 15 assists in the contest to go with his eight points and two steals.
IPFW was led by Carson with 18 points. Junior forward Deilvez Yearby and sophomore guard Ben Botts each added 13.
Oakland shot a blistering 62. 3% from the floor, while the 'Dons hit on 42.2% of their shots.
The loss snapped the Mastodons' modest two-game winning streak and dropped them to 10-15 and 5-9 in Summit League play.
The Mastodons will return to action with their final two road games of the season next week. IPFW will travel to IUPUI on Thursday before finishing the trip at Western Illinois on Saturday.
~Dons~
