DURHAM, N.C. - The Western Illinois men's basketball team improved its shooting in the second half to make a 53-50 comeback over North Carolina Central, Tuesday.
“Give them a lot of credit with the way they came out. We are learning and some of our guys came out not ready to play,” Western Illinois head coach Jim Molinari said. “I give credit to (David) Nurse and Ceola (Clark) for how we came out in the second half--there was some yelling in there. We don't lose our confidence when we can't score, we get confidence when we get stop after stop and we did that in the second half.”
Down 13 points with 12:46 remaining, a
Tommie Tyler dunk followed by a
David Nurse three sparked a 16-2 run. In the run, a
Matt Lander three-point play with 9:12 remaining brought the Fighting Leathernecks (9-13) within four points and a pair of Granstra free throws made the score 35-33. Ceola Clark pulled down the rebound on the Eagles' (4-20) following possession, handed it off to Tyler, who found Nurse beyond the arc to give Western its first lead since the opening minutes, 36-35, capping Western's comeback run.
Western took the lead for the final time with 6:01 left, but North Carolina Central did not let up as it came within one point, three times, to the buzzer, with the final time at the 15-second mark. Clark sunk both free throw shots in the final nine seconds to secure the win.
“I'm really proud of those guys,” Molinari said. “We played the whole second half. I think
Tommie Tyler is a huge fighter and he really brought it tonight.”
The Eagles' full-court press forced 10 Western Illinois turnovers and held the Leathernecks to only four field goals in the first half. Trailing 7-5 within the first four minutes of play, North Carolina Central went on an 11-0 run down to the 11:06 mark when Nurse hit a three to cut the deficit to 10 points. The Leathernecks held the deficit to single digits, but cold shooting (20%) sent them into the locker room trailing 22-13.
The Leathernecks improved from a 20 percent (4-for-20) field goal percentage in the first half to 64.7 percent (15-of-37) shooting in the second half. Western held the Eagles to only eight field goals in the second half.
“The second half was terrific,” Molinari said. “We were fortunate they missed a lot of free throws, but when you can make a team shoot 8-for-20 in the second half, you've done a terrific job.”
Nurse led Western Illinois both in scoring with 15 points and off the boards with a career-high eight rebounds. Nurse sunk four threes and made 3-of-4 from the line. Twelve of his 15 points came in the second half. Clark extended his double-figure scoring streak to six games as he recorded 13 points, making 5-of-9 from the field, all in the second half. Granstra was the third Leatherneck in double figures with 11 points. Granstra and Emeka Okafor, Jr., each contributed six rebounds, helping Western to a 34-22 rebounding advantage over N.C. Central.
“Ceola is a great player and he was upset with his play, but came back in the second half. Nurse wants to win so bad because he is such a tremendous competitor. I think in Western Illinois basketball you have to make stop after stop and we did that in the second half,” Molinari said.
The Leathernecks were sent to the free-throw line 27 times, making 70.4 percent (19-of-27), while the Eagles converted 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from the line.
Western Illinois returns home to resume Summit League competition at 7 p.m., Saturday with IUPUI in Western Hall.
“IUPUI is a great team,” Molinari explained. “The most athletic team in our league along with Oakland. We'll get their best effort. Our goal is to get better every day and I hope we'll get a great crowd. These kids deserve it because they work hard.”
