Gaines and the 'Dons Hold off South Dakota 92-87

Saturday, December 3

Memorial Coliseum

7:30 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

3-3, 1-1Summit

South Dakota

2-5, 0-2Summit

South Dakota

IPFW

Photo by: Lucas Carter

Gaines and the 'Dons Hold off South Dakota 92-87

12/3/2011 10:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Frank Gaines scored 26, as IPFW had seven players with at least eight points in a 92-87 victory over the South Dakota Coyotes on Saturday evening.

The win evens IPFW's record to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in Summit League play while South Dakota falls to 2-5 and 0-2 in the league.

Gaines, who leads the Summit League in scoring and ranks sixth in the country, scored 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. John Peckinpaugh scored a career-high 12 points, as Jason Smeathers and Michael Kibiloski each scored 10, Joe Edwards put in nine, and Trey McCorkle and Mario Hines each added eight points int he win.

Hines grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, with Peckinpaugh adding seven, as IPFW out-rebounded the Coyotes 38-to-28, the third time in the last four games that the Mastodons have held a +10 margin or greater on the boards. Jonny Marlin dished out five assists, with Kibiloski adding four, while Hines had a game-high two blocked shots.

The Mastodons used a 7-0 run early to take an 18-7 lead just over six and a half minutes into the contest before the visitors chipped away at the lead with a 13-2 streak to lead by four at 30-26.

Facing its largest deficit of the contest, IPFW rattled off 19 of the last 25 points of the half, using a Joe Edwards tip-in at the halftime buzzer to lead by nine at 45-36 at the break.

The Mastodons never trailed in the second half, despite seeing the lead cut to as few as one with 1:16 to play. With advantage cut to the smallest of margins, IPFW scored the next five points as McCorkle and Peckinpaugh went a combined 4-for-4 at the charity stripe, as the Mastodons made all is of its free throws down the streatch to ice the game in the 92-87 victory.

The 97 points are a new season-high for IPFW, as the Mastodons made 35-of-73 shots from the field (47.9 percent), and 17-of-22 from the free throw line (77.3 percent).

South Dakota was led by Trevor Gruis who had a 29-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Nimrod Hilliard dished out a game-high eight assists.

The Mastodons return to the Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday, December 7 when the squad hosts the Crusaders of Valparaiso in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.

~Dons~