MACOMB, Ill. - Fred Oguns scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds but Western Illinois fell to Chicago State, 87-73. The Leathernecks, however, still clinched a spot in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament with Centenary?s loss to Oakland. The Cougars (7-18, 6-8) took a 7-4 lead at 16:59 that they never relinquished, leading by as many as 20 in the first half, 44-24 with 2:30 to play. They took a 44-27 lead into the break behind 52 percent (14-27) shooting from the floor and 83 percent (10-12) shooting from three-point range.The Leathernecks (7-19, 3-12) outscored the Cougars 46-43 in the second half, shooting 59 percent (17-29) from the field and 91 percent (10-11) from the free throw line after the break. They cut their deficit to single-digits on three different occasions, as late as the 1:50 mark after seven straight points by Oguns. Chicago State, however, shot 9-of-10 from the line in the final 1:12.Oguns was joined in double figures by Eliz Cepeda, NaVonta Kentle and David Jackson, who scored 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Cougars were paced by David Holston?s 27 points, and also received 16 points from Royce Parran and 11 from Michael Henderson.Centenary sealed its ninth-place finish in the conference standings with a loss to Oakland tonight, assuring Western Illinois a spot in the tournament. The Leathernecks will wrap up the regular-season at home next Saturday against UMKC. Postgame quotes by Chicago State head coach Kevin Jones:?It was a well-played game by my guys after a disappointing loss at Valparaiso. Western was picked higher than us in the preseason rankings, so there was a little bit of a revenge factor in wanting to win. This was a pivotal game for seeding purposes for us.?On the high shooting percentage:?It was just one of those nights. It?s all about getting guys to believe in taking good shots. We were distributing the ball very evenly.?On David Holton:?He is just a mild-mannered guy with no ego who just wants to get better every game and every practice. Being that small you have to shoot well, and he has put in the extra hours to get there. He is becoming a real threat in our conference.?Postgame quotes from Western Illinois head coach Derek Thomas:?We?re giving up too many points in the first half lately. We?ve played two excellent teams who can shoot the lights out. Both nights we?ve either won the second-half scoring or been very close, but we?ve just dug ourselves too big of a whole. We?ve made the right adjustments at halftime, but when you?re playing teams that are that hot and have the confidence factor it?s tough to slow them down.?On making the tournament:?We haven?t even thought about not going to Tulsa. We?ve just been trying to win some games and move up the standings to where we belong. We don?t belong where we?re at.?On the morale of the team:?It?s one of frustration right now. One play here and another play there, and we win five of our last eight instead of two of our last eight. We?ve played hard. We just have to maintain the mindset that we are capable of winning in the tournament.?On the regular-season finale next week:?You of course never want to lose three in a row at home, so this is going to be a huge game. Not a life or death situation, but huge. It will be senior day, and we don?t want to limp into the tournament on a losing streak.?