Men’s Basketball Cruises Past Knox College in WIU’s Lone Exhibition

12 Leathernecks scored and 14 players grabbed at least a rebound in Saturday’s win

Freshman Guard Delo Bruster

MACOMB, Ill. – The Western Illinois men's basketball team cruised to a 90-48 exhibition win over Knox College Saturday afternoon (Nov. 7) inside Western Hall. The contest marks the Fighting Leathernecks' lone exhibition of the 2015-16 season.

"Our guys did a really good job of executing the game plan," said head coach Billy Wright. "We wanted to pound the ball inside and have an inside-out attack. Looking at what we attempted from the three, we shot 12 threes and I thought that was right where we needed to be right now. Last year we were three-ball happy, but we wanted to have more of a presence down low. We wanted to attack inside and I thought our guys did a good job of doing that."

Western kicked off the contest by scoring the first six points, and then used a 15-0 run midway through the opening half to jump out to a 25-7 advantage over the Prairie Fire. The Leathernecks then gradually built their lead up to 23 points, taking a 42-19 lead into halftime.

The second half was all WIU as well with the Leathernecks using a 20-5 run to take full control of the game, building their lead up to as many as 47 points on their way to the 90-48 victory.

"We got careless with the ball a few times. There were a few stretches where I thought our guards, our experienced guards, have played enough basketball to understand how I want them to play, and how to play the game. I thought that our 14 turnovers were too much. Credit Knox, they came to play, I just thought that we outmatched them down low," concluded Wright.

All of Western's 16 players saw action with 12 of them scoring and 14 of them grabbing at least one rebound.

Junior guard Garret Covington led all scorers with 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting from long range, and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. The Edwardsville, Illinois, native also grabbed seven rebounds, including a team-high four offensive boards, three assists and three steals.

Grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds was 6-foot-11 freshman Brandon Gilbeck who also led the team with four blocks and scored seven points.

Both junior Jabari Sandifer and senior J.C. Fuller added 13 points. Sandifer also led the team with four steals.

Freshman guard Delo Bruster finished with a game-high four helpers and contributed eight points, six rebounds and two steals to the Leathernecks' winning effort.

Western shot better than Knox from the field (48.5 percent – 30.0), from long range (33.3 percent – 26.7), and the free throw line (64.7 percent – 33.3).

WIU opens its 2015-16 campaign at Wisconsin next Friday, Nov. 13, with tipoff set for 8 p.m. The contest between the Badgers and Leathernecks is slated to air live on the Big Ten Network.

Tweet #W1U

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#31 Garret Covington: G; 6' 5"; Junior; Edwardsville

#14 J.C. Fuller: G; 6' 4"; Senior; East / Kirkwood CC

#1 Jabari Sandifer: G; 6' 1"; Junior; Neuqua Valley

#52 Brandon Gilbeck: C; 6' 11"; Freshman; River Valley

Players Mentioned

#31 Garret Covington
: 6' 5"; Junior; Edwardsville
: G

#14 J.C. Fuller
: 6' 4"; Senior; East / Kirkwood CC
: G

#1 Jabari Sandifer
: 6' 1"; Junior; Neuqua Valley
: G

#52 Brandon Gilbeck
: 6' 11"; Freshman; River Valley
: C