Purdue Fort Wayne
Southern Utah
Mastodons Rally Late to Top T-Birds, 61-56
1/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2010
Fort Wayne, IN - Southern Utah led for 38:42 before IPFW took its first lead of the ballgame, Thursday night at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center. From there, the Mastodons finished off the game, topping the Thunderbirds, 61-56.
Southern Utah took a five-point lead late on a 3-pointer by senior guard Davis Baker, making it 54-49 with 2:11 remaining in the contest.
IPFW would cut that lead to two on a triple by junior guard Ben Botts.
Then came the play of the game for IPFW. On the next possession, junior guard Zach Plackemeier picked Baker's pocket at the top of the key. On the break up the floor, Plackemeier dished off to Deilvez Yearby who through down a monstrous slam while being fouled on the dunk by Baker. That sent the Gates Center crowd of nearly 1,200 into a frenzy.
Yearby calmly sank the foul shot to give the 'Dons their first lead of the game at 55-54 with 1:28 remaining.
Baker gave the Thunderbirds another brief lead with a jumper from the top of the key, but it was all IPFW from there. Botts stuck another jumper from about 14 feet putting the Mastodons up one again 57-56 with :53 left.
On the next possession, senior guard Nick Daniels tied up SUU guard Rob Friel giving the 'Dons back the basketball. IPFW sank four free-throws down the stretch to seal the win.
IPFW may not have been in position to win the game had it not been for the play of sophomore forward Trey McCorkle. The 6'10" big man battled all evening with SUU's 6'11" Matt Hodgson. McCorkle scored 14 points and hauled down a career-high eight rebounds. He limited Hodgson to just four second half points.
"I thought we did a nice job of just not quitting," IPFW head men's basketball coach Dane Fife said after the contest.
"Give our guys credit for defending and continuing to fight. Deilvez (Yearby), Ben (Botts), all those guys on the floor made some really good plays. I thought Trey McCorkle was outstanding, getting on the glass, it was just a really hard fought game."
Yearby paced the Mastodons with his fourth double-double of the season. The senior from Detroit, Michigan had a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. Along with McCorkle's 14 and eight, IPFW got 11 from Botts.
Southern Utah (5-12, 1-5 Summit League) was led in scoring by Davis Baker with a game-high 23. Hodgson was the only other T-Bird in double-figures with 12.
Southern Utah won the battle of the boards, 41-40.
With the win, IPFW improves to 7-9 and 2-4 in Summit League play. The Mastodons return to action on Saturday night, hosting UMKC at 7:00 p.m. That contest is the back half of a women's-men's double header. IPFW's first-place women's team looks to go to 6-0 in conference play, hosting UMKC at 4:30 p.m.
~Dons~
