MACOMB, Ill. - David DuBois led three players in double-digit scoring with 25 points as Western Illinois defeated Southeast Missouri State, 71-66, for its third-straight win this season.

The Leathernecks (4-5) record three-straight wins for only the second time since the 2004-05 season.

With 3:36 left in the game, a DuBois layup extended the Leathernecks to seven over the Redhawks (2-7), 62-55. Southeast Missouri State went on a 6-0 run, earning half of those points off free throws to come within two at 2:34. Four straight free throw shots from DuBois put Western back out to six, 66-60 with 1:30 left in regulation. The Redhawks would come within three, twice, 67-64, and again, 69-66 with only six seconds left in the game. Working to buy some time, SEMO fouled David Nurse, who converted both attempts for a final five-point lead.

Nurse hit a three-point shot at 13:19 for Western's greatest lead of the first half, 9-5. The teams traded buckets with the seventh, and final tie of the first half, 24-24 with 2:16 left. SEMO's leading scorer Kenard Moore slammed in a layup at the buzzer for a 27-26 halftime lead.

Western shot 40 percent (10-25) from the field and Southeast Missouri State shot 37.5 percent (9-24) in the first half. Nurse hit two buckets from beyond the arc and Josh Rivers contributed one. The Leathernecks had three turnovers to the Redhawks 10 in the first half.

Out of halftime, a layup by Rodney Williams, Jr., put Western ahead 28-27, but immediate back-to-back buckets from Calvin Williams gave the Redhawks the lead by three, 31-28. Nurse hit a shot from downtown for a 31-31 tie at the 18-minute mark. Williams dropped in his third-straight basket before a DuBois jumper and 33-33 tie. SEMO went on a 5-0 run, 38-33, with 15:41 just before three-straight Western layups tied the game again at 13:44, 39-39. Western broke away to lead by as many as four points on five occasions until the 4:30 mark when Ceola Clark sunk a three for a seven point lead, 60-53. A pair of free throws brought SEMO within five points, but Western was able to extend back out to seven and close out the game.

DuBois recorded 18 second-half points, while Nurse, who finished with 16, and Clark, who finished with 14, had 10 in the second half. Clark's 14 total points was a new career best. James Granstra led Western in rebounds with six. DuBois tied a career-best four steals. The Redhawks also had three players in double-digit scoring led by Moore, who had 20 points. Jaycen Herring recorded 19 points and Williams had 13. Jajuan Maxwell led all players in rebounding with eight allowing the Redhawks to out-rebound the Leathernecks, 36-30.

Western enjoyed the upperhand in steals with seven to Southeast Missouri State's four and also forced 13 turnovers, while only committing five. Western did not allow SEMO a single three-point shot (0-6) and shot 43.8 percent (7-16) from downtown.

The Western Illinois men's basketball team will hit the road to face Eastern Illinois at 7 p.m., Saturday, before facing the Redhawks for a final time this season at the Show Me Center, Dec. 21.

Postgame Quotes:
Western Illinois head coach Jim Molinari:
"I want to thank our crowd. I think they gave our guys a real boost. All of them. Especially our student section. You have to have some energy givers and they really did that. I appreciated that. I hope they come back."

"I think that's a great part of your college experience, being a part of that. I hope the Purple Haze becomes a great part of our future and our tradition."

"I think we got a great lift off the bench. Ceola Clark, I thought, was tremendous. In recruiting, you look for character, athletic ability and skill. One of the things might be as important or more important as the feel for the game. Ceola has a tremendous feel for the game. He has other strengths, but that is a tremendous strength of his and it showed tonight."

"Give them credit. Southeast Missouri State is like us. Their record is deceiving. They've played some really hard teams on the road. They played a couple of them without Calvin Williams. I think they played with great discipline and are obviously coming together. They are very hard to guard."

"You can't do big things until you do small things. Tonight we did them well."

On James Granstra:
"James is a presence. You can't coach big. All these guys are in new roles. James was hurt and he hasn't been that counted on. I think James played his role. His role is to try to get some rebounds in there and make it difficult to score over him."

On the team's confidence level:
"I think they trust their identity. I don't know that they are confident in winning and losing, but they know what their identity has to be. They are starting to trust each other in that identity. They know that identity is half-court defense, gang rebounding, taking care of the ball and not turning it over."

"At Coastal Carolina, we came up against the wall and we weren't comfortable. In the win against Texas Pan-American we kind of busted through the wall. They are not playing to lose, they are playing to win."

David DuBois:
"They were a very athletic team. They were big and strong. The second half, we just stuck to our system. We played defense, got rebounds when we needed to, made stops and we got the win."

"I missed three in a row (free throws) in the first half. [In the second half] I just stuck to my routine and stepped up there under calmly and just knocked them down. I knew my team needed me to make them, so I stepped up and hit them for them."

"It was great to hear the students out there hassling on the free throw line."

Ceola Clark:
"We had a great week of practice. I just tried to step up and play my role and make plays for the team. The guys got me involved. I just tried to do the best job I could on the court."

On making steals:
"Coach said we needed to get what he calls 50/50 balls. I saw the play and I tried to get it as quickly as I could. I tipped the ball and saw my teammate and got it to him in a critical part of the game."

Southeast Missouri State acting head coach Zac Roman:
"Western did the little things at the end of the game to win. Rebounds at the end, stops, just the little things that it takes to win a game like this. You've got to grind it out. Western did and we didn't."

"These kids haven't learned how to win games like that yet. Being in a game like that, away, you've got to figure out a way out. You've got to grind it out, but we kind of folded at the end. We weren't mentally tough enough and that's something that we've got to work on."

"I've been the acting head coach for a little over two months. It takes a lot of time for this many young men to buy into your system. You've got to be on the same page, especially in games like this. That's what it's going to take to get over the hump."

On David DuBois:
"He's a great player. He just get's it done. His motor never stops. He's just an animal. We didn't have an answer for him."

On the lopsided turnover margin:
"That's huge. Taking care of the basketball and being strong with the ball ? a little bit of contact and we are turning it over. You've got to be strong with the ball."