'Dons Blast Skyhawks, Win Sixth Straight

Saturday, December 11

Fort Wayne, Ind.

1:00 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

UT Martin

Frank Gaines slams home two of his career-high 20 vs. UT Martin

12/11/2010 4:14:56 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score | Photo Gallery

Fort Wayne, IN - The IPFW men's basketball team had its best shooting game of the year, bolstered by a career-high 20 points from sophomore guard Frank Gaines, winning its sixth straight contest by blasting UT Martin, 85-61 at the Memorial Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.

The win improves the Mastodons to 7-2, their best mark ever at the Division I level.

The Skyhawks (3-7) opened the game with energy. They held an early 10-7 lead after a bucket inside by freshman guard Terence Smith at the 14:45 mark.

But from that point, IPFW flipped the switch. Junior guard Antwaun Boyd scored five straight points. Junior forward Trey McCorkle used glass inside to get a shot to go, and Gaines scored four straight including a thunderous dunk off of a steal and breakaway. After all the damage had been done, IPFW went on a 21-2 run to take a 28-12 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the opening half.

Boyd would tack on five more points near the end of the half to give the Mastodons a 41-23 cushion at the intermission.

In the second half, the 'Dons began to dial it up from behind the arc. Senior guard Zach Plackemeier hit a pair of triples as did junior forward Jason Smeathers, as the Mastodons cruised to the 24-point win.

Five Mastodons hit for double-digits with Gaines' career-high 20 leading the way. McCorkle was 6-6 from the floor and finished with 13 points. Plackemeier and Smeathers each finished with 11 and Boyd added 10. Gaines led IPFW in rebounding with eight.

Freshman forward Troy King led the Skyhawks with 14 points. Smith added 12.

IPFW shot a season-best 57.7% from the floor. They also went 9-19 from behind the arc. That runs their current streak of games with at least five 3-pointers to 27, placing them tied for seventh in the nation on that list.

UT Martin shot 45.1% from the field, but were just 2-7 from 3-point land. The battle of the boards was a dead-heat with each team grabbing 28.

IPFW concludes its five-game homestand with a record of 5-0. They will take to the road for their next four games which includes two non-conference games at Valparaiso (12/18) and Purdue (12/21) and a pair of Summit League games at Oral Roberts (12/28) and Centenary (12/30).

~Dons~