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Purdue Fort Wayne
Western Illinois
Mastodons Hit .500 Mark in win at Western Illinois
1/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2010
Macomb, IL - Senior guard Nick Daniels and junior guard Ben Botts each had 13 points as IPFW held off Western Illinois, 63-58 on Thursday night at Western Hall.
It was the fourth win in five games for IPFW as the evened their record at 10-10 overall and 5-5 in Summit League play.
It was a tough, hard-fought game, similar to the Jan. 2 game at the Memorial Coliseum.
Sophomore forward Trey McCorkle got the Mastodons off to a good start with IPFW's first four points.
After trading leads for the first twelve minutes of the game, IPFW opened up a four-point lead on a 3-pointer by junior guard Zach Plackemeier.
IPFW pushed that lead to seven as freshman guard Brandon Gaines put together an old-fashioned three-point play making it 20-13 with 3:50 remaining in the half.
But a triple from WIU sophomore guard Ceola Clark and a layup at the buzzer by junior forward James Granstra drew the Fighting Leathernecks to within two in a low scoring first half, 22-20.
In the second half, IPFW pushed their lead to eight as junior forward Antwone Snead went hard to the rack for two of his eight points.
Snead gave IPFW its biggest lead of the game with another bucket inside, and with 11:25 left it was 42-30 'Dons.
However, Western Illinois would not go quietly. Junior guard Matt Lander scored five points in a 13-5 run that cut the Mastodons lead to four with five minute left in regulation.
From there it was all 'Dons. Botts and Daniels each had big baskets and senior forward Deilvez Yearby blocked three shots down the stretch to seal the win.
Along with 13 from Daniels and Botts, IPFW got 11 from Plackemeier who also finished with eight assists and five rebounds.
Yearby finished just a point shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. He also rejected six Leatherneck shots.
Western Illinois (8-12, 2-8) was led by Quenton Kirby with 15 and Ceola Clark with 14.
IPFW will now travel to co-conference leader IUPUI (16-7, 9-1) on Sunday. IUPUI blasted Oakland 78-54 at the Jungle on Thursday night handing the Golden Grizzlies their first conference loss of the season. Sunday's game will be at the Conseco Fieldhouse and tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.
~Dons~
