Mastodons Never Trail in Tournament Finale

Sunday, November 17

Corpus Christi, Texas

2 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

3-2

Tennessee Tech

2-3

IPFW

TTU

Photo by: Lucas Carter

11/17/2013 2:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOX SCORE | BOX SCORE (.pdf) | BOX SCORE (.html)

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The IPFW Mastodons never trailed in their final game of the Holiday Inn Downtown Marina Islanders Basketball Tournament, topping the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles by a 69-66 final score on Sunday afternoon.

Luis Jacobo picked up a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, while two players - Michael Kibiloski and Steve Forbes - scored nine, and two more - Joe Edwards and Joe Reed - added eight points apiece. Kibiloski and Reed each pulled down four rebounds, while Pierre Bland dished out six assists with Isaiah McCray giving out five helpers.

The Mastodons never trailed in the opening 20 minutes, and used a 15-4 run to turn a four-point lead into a 15-point advantage on a Luis Jacboo three-pointer with 9:49 to play in the opening period.

Once the Mastodon lead reached 15, the Golden Eagles started to chip away at the lead, eventually closing the gap to six at 32-26 heading into the locker room at halftime.

IPFW pushed the second half lead to as many as 11 as late as 57-46 with 7:18 to play; however, the Golden Eagles scored the next 10 points to close the margin to one at 57-56 two minutes later. After the Mastodons got a lay-in from Edwards to put the lead at three, Tennessee Tech's Dennis Ogbe hit a lay-in and was fouled, making the free throw to tie the score at 59 apiece.

IPFW immediately responded by scoring four straight points on a lay-up by Jacobo and a jumper by Reed. A pair of McCray free throws put the Mastodons back ahead by six, before a three-points, and a steal and a lay-in cut the margin to one at 67-66. Bland made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Mastodons a two-point cushion, and a missed shot and rebound, and subsequent foul put McCray on the line with 0.1 seconds to play, as the 'Dons iced the game in the three-point win.

The Mastodons hit 28-of-52 shots from the field (53.8%), and 6-of-14 (42.9%) from long range, but struggled from the charity stripe, hitting just 7-of-17 free throws (41.2%).

Dennis Ogbe and Dwan Caldwell each scored 15 for the Golden Eagles, while Ty Allen scored 11.

The Mastodons return to action on Wednesday, November 20, when the squad hosts Purdue-Calumet in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Gates Sports Center.

~ Feel the Rumble ~