Purdue Fort Wayne
Western Illinois
Mastodons Get Season Sweep of Western Illinois
2/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2009
Macomb, IL - IPFW got 19 points from senior forward David Carson and 17 from senior guard Jakari Johnson in handing Western Illinois a crucial, 82-74 loss at Western Hall on Saturday night.
In a game they trailed just once, IPFW made over half of their shots from the floor in sweeping the season series from WIU.
Western Illinois' only lead came at 7-6 on a layup from senior forward David Dubois.
IPFW reeled off a 14-2 run capped by a triple from Johnson making it 20-9, and at the half the Mastodons led 37-30.
In the second half, IPFW opened up their biggest lead of the game on a 15-foot jumper by junior forward Deilvez Yearby, 67-52.
Western Illinois (9-18, 6-11) pulled to within six late on a layup by Rodney Williams, but WIU Head Coach Jim Molinari and DuBois each were assessed technical fouls on the next trip up the floor for IPFW. Sophomore guard Ben Botts sank all four freebies and the Mastodons ran out the clock.
Senior forward David Carson led the 'Dons with 19 points. He also had eight rebounds.
He was joined in double figures by Johnson with 17, junior guard Nick Daniels with 13, and Botts with 11.
DuBois had a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds, but missed the final minute of play.
IPFW shot 52.1% from the floor, while WIU hit on 47.3% of their shots.
IPFW won the battle of the boards, 31-26.
With the win, the Mastodons improve to 11-16 and 6-10 in Summit League action. The win places them in 7th place in the race for the top eight spots that qualify for the post season tournament.
The Mastodons will finish the season at home, hosting UMKC on Thursday night and Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon.
~Dons~
