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Purdue Fort Wayne
UMKC
Botts Explodes as Mastodons Clinch Tournament Birth
2/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN - Sophomore guard Ben Botts erupted for 18 second half points, as IPFW topped UMKC 76-71 on Thursday night at the Memorial Coliseum.
Botts' tirade began with the Mastodons trailing the Kangaroos 49-48 at the 11:08 mark of the second half. Botts knocked down four straight triples and a pair of foul shots over a four-minute stretch to give the 'Dons a 62-56 lead.
UMKC (7-23, 3-14) would get as close as two, on an offensive rebound and tip-in by Trey McKinney-Jones, but the Mastodons hit eight straight free throws down the stretch to seal the win. The win secures a spot for IPFW in The Summit League post-season tournament. It will be the second consecutive appearance for the Mastodons.
"This is a good win because it kind of showed our maturity to me." IPFW head men's basketball coach Dane Fife said.
"I thought this was a good sign in that we kept our composure. We're down as many a six in the second half, Benny (Botts) gets hot, we start defending a little bit, and Deilvez (Yearby) made some tremendous plays down the stretch."
Botts equaled his career-high with 22 points. He was 4-4 from behind the arc. Botts was joined in double figures by three other Mastodons. Junior guard Nick Daniels had 16 points and three assists. Senior forward David Carson registered 15 points and dished out five assists, tying his career-high. Junior forward Deilvez Yearby finished off the double-digit scoring for the 'Dons with 12 points. He also had a team-high seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
UMKC was led by sophomore guard Bakari Lewis with 17.
IPFW hit 47.1% from the floor, while UMKC hit on 43.4% of their shots. The 'Roos outrebounded the Mastodons 31-28.
With the win, IPFW improves to 12-16 overall and 7-10 in conference play. With their win and South Dakota State's 63-58 loss to Oral Roberts, the Mastodons are tied with the Jackrabbits for 6th place. Southern Utah and IUPUI are a game up on IPFW with identical 8-9 records.
IPFW hosts Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon in the season finale. Seniors David Carson and Jakari Johnson will be honored before the 4:00 p.m. contest.
~Dons~
