Box Score
CONWAY, Ark. -- Ceola Clark scored a game-high 16 points in his season debut to lead the Western Illinois men's basketball team to a 56-46 win over Central Arkansas Saturday night.
Clark came off the bench to give the Fighting Leathernecks (2-2) a boost in scoring and rebounding down the stretch in his first playing time since Western's exhibition game against Monmouth Nov. 5. Clark went 11-of-12 from the free throw line, all in the second half, pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and dished out three assists.
"Ceola made a major difference for us tonight. He does a tremendous job of leading our team," said Western Illinois coach Jim Molinari. "Ceola is our glue guy. He makes free throws. He rebounds. He does everything."
The Leathernecks jumped out to an early lead in the game, holding the Bears (1-3) to just four points through the first 10 minutes while scoring 12 of their own. Central Arkansas fought back within 12-11 midway through the first half, but Wetern responded with a Clark 3-pointer and a David Gebru dunk to give itself some breathing room at 17-11. The Leathernecks held at least a four-point cushion throughout the remainder of the half before taking a 26-20 lead into the break.
The Bears started the second-half on a 5-0 run to pull within 26-25, but Western managed to hold the lead. The Leathernecks struggled offensively early in the second half, but were able to build on their lead with Clark making repeated trips to the charity stripe.
Central Arkansas tried making runs late in the second half, pulling with 37-32 at the 10:18 mark, but Western responded with back-to-back buckets by Gebru. The Leathernecks pushed the lead as high as 12 with a layup by Arsenio Mims to lead 50-38 at the 2:00 mark and the Bears resorted to fouling the rest of the game. Western hit 16-of-23 free throws in the second half. Conversely, Central Arkansas struggled with free throws, finishing 10-of-25 from the stripe.
Behind Clark, Quenton Kirby scored 12 points and pulled down four rebounds while Matt Lander had six points, four rebounds and three assists. Also for Western Gebru had six points and James Granstra pulled down four rebounds and blocked two shots.
"We got huge contributions from everybody tonight," Molinari said.
The Leathernecks next travel to Savanah Georgia to take on the Savanah State Tigers at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 24.
"It's a good victory. It's good to get one on the road. Now we've just got to keep it going," Molinari said.
