IPFW Survives Gritty Gents, 76-66

Thursday, January 27

Fort Wayne, Ind.

7:00 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

Centenary

Ben Botts scoring two of his 17 vs. Centenary

1/27/2011 10:04:18 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score | Photo Gallery

Fort Wayne, IN - IPFW rallied from a nine-point second half deficit to keep Centenary winless on the season as the Mastodons topped the Gents, 76-66 on Thursday night in the Expo Center of the Memorial Coliseum.

It was the first time IPFW had ever played inside the Expo Center, and for over 30-minutes it looked like it might be the first win of the season for Centenary (0-22, 0-10 SL).

The Gents held an early six-point lead as junior forward Maxx Nakwaasah muscled a basket home inside.

The Mastodons looked poised to take control of the contest like they had earlier this season in Shreveport, Louisiana as senior guard Zach Plackemeier converted an "and-one" and sophomore guard Frank Gaines slashed to the basket. That gave IPFW a 26-21 lead with 4:47 to go in the half.

But Centenary would not go quietly. Freshman guard Jonathan Blount got an offensive stick-back and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play as the Gents held a 37-32 lead at the break.

Centenary took their biggest lead of the game in the second half as a Nakwaasah jumper pushed the CC lead to nine.

Sensing the game may be getting away from them, IPFW tightened their defense and began to score. The Mastodons used 3-pointers from freshman forward Michael Kibiloski and senior guard Ben Botts to go on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 45.

The Gents would make one final push, taking a 51-50 lead on a layup by freshman forward Andrew Rebol at the 8:58 mark, but that is the last time they would be ahead in the game.

IPFW began to take the ball strong to the basket and get to the line. Sandwiched around triples by Botts and junior guard Antwaun Boyd, IPFW outscored Centenary, 26-15 the rest of the way for the win.

Gaines led four Mastodons in double figures with 19 points. He also had seven rebounds. Botts tossed in 17 points, including four triples. Boyd added 11, while junior guard Jeremy Mixon chipped in 10.

Nakwaasah led Centenary with 18 points and nine rebounds. Rebol and freshman guard Aaron Harwell each had 10.

IPFW, 8th in the nation in free throw shooting, was 24-26 from the line in the game. Junior forward Trey McCorkle, Gaines and Mixon were all 6-6.

With the win, IPFW improves to 13-7 overall and 7-3 in Summit League play. The Mastodons will host Oral Roberts on Saturday night at the Expo Center. The Golden Eagles (9-13, 6-4 SL) battled top-seeded Oakland to the wire before falling, 88-85 on Thursday night at Oakland. Game time is 7:00 p.m.

~Dons~