SAVANNAH, Ga. - Ceola Clark III scored 22 points and Matt Lander added 15 as Western Illinois held off a late charge by Savannah State to pick up a 59-52 win at Tiger Arena on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 14). The Leathernecks improved to 2-0 this season.

Western never trailed since Jack Houpt's 3-pointer gave the Leathernecks a 15-14 lead with 8:49 left in the first half. The lead eventually grew to 10 with two minutes left when Savannah State (1-1) made a charge.

Preston Blackmon hit two free throws then Jovonni Shuler nailed a 3-pointer four seconds later, cutting Western's lead to 53-48 with 1:57 left. Jelani Johnson missed a jumper but Kaimarr Price got a key offensive rebound and his putback extended the lead to seven.

Shuler made the second of two free throws with 1:02 remaining, then Clark committed a turnover to give the ball back. However, Blackmon missed a lay-in and Clark was there for the defensive rebound. Fouled immediately, the junior guard hit both free throws as the Leathernecks converted 5-of-6 at the line in the final 34 seconds to seal the win.

Head coach Jim Molinari's squad is off to a 2-0 start, just the third time over the past 15 seasons the Leathernecks have done so.

"I am really proud of our young men. I thought they fought hard against an extremely athletic team. Savannah State played a ton of players and kept coming at us. They were very athletic and they hurt us being so quick to the boards. However, the character of our players really showed today, especially in the second half," said Molinari.

Clark surpassed 20 points for the 10th time of his career on 6-of-11 field goals (4-of-8 beyond the arc) and converting all six free throw attempts.

Lander dished out a game-high five assists and Price led in rebounding with five. The Leathernecks shot 60 percent from the field in the second half, 52.8 percent for the game (19-of-36), while holding the Tigers to a 38.6 percent clip.

"We still need to figure out how to get the ball inside more but our guards have done a great job. Ceola (Clark) was fantastic today and showed what type of player he can be. Ceola is a great player and I do not say that much. He just does it all and he took control of the game at the end. Jelani Johnson came in and gave us some really good minutes," stated the third year head coach. "At the end of the game, coaches tend to play the fighters on their bench and Kaimarr fought extremely hard to get that key rebound and put back. That was a big moment in the game and helped us put it away."

Shuler led the Tigers with 22 points and Blackmon added 11 points and three assists.

The Leathernecks travel to Missouri (ranked 15th in the preseason 'Top 25' polls) on Thursday night (Nov. 18), tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. The game marks the first of four games as part of the 2010 Cancun Challenge.