ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Western Illinois men's basketball squad battled in Ann Arbor, Mich. Thursday night, eventually falling to No. 17 Michigan (3-0) inside of Crisler Arena, 59-55.
Senior guard Ceola Clark III made his 2011-12 debut and led the team with a game-high 21 points and team-best four assists. Clark also pulled down four rebounds, which was the second most of his teammates, and shot 50.0 percent from the field, including four triples. Junior forward Terell Parks was the only other Leatherneck to finish in double-digits, scoring 11 points and pulling down a team-best five boards.
Head coach Jim Molinari talked about his team's fight Thursday night.
"I thought we battled with them toe-to-toe, we didn't back down once," said coach Molinari. "I knew that we wouldn't know what kind of team we had until Ceola (Clark) came back. He's as good as anybody at controlling the game, and he did another great job of that tonight. I am proud of our fight; we never backed down throughout the entire game."
After Michigan scored the first two points of the game, the Leathernecks opened their scoring with back-to-back three pointers courtesy of Ceola Clark and Billy Molinari. The next time down the floor, Parks made it 8-2 in favor of Western with a put back.
After the Wolverines cut Western's lead to just one (8-7), Clark found Parks with a no-look pass, allowing Parks to finish the easy bucket, pushing Western's lead to 10-7.
The Wolverines gradually regained the lead until Western rattled off three triples, Clark, senior guard Tommie Tyler, and Clark again, to knot things up at 19.
A nice pass from freshman forward Obi Emegano to junior forward Jack Houpt gave the Leathernecks the 21-19 lead, and after Michigan answered to tie it back up, Parks drained his first three of the season, giving Western the 24-21 lead.
Michigan's Trey Burke hit a triple to answer, and after the two teams exchanged a couple baskets they made their way to their respective locker rooms tied up at 28.
The Leathernecks came out and put the first points of the second half on the board when Clark found Parks open under the basket.
Michigan than went on a 7-0 until Tyler hit a jumper, cutting the Wolverines lead to three, 35-32. UM then score four more unanswered points and took a 39-32 lead with 15:21 remaining in the game.
Clark and Emegano wouldn't allow the Wolverines to walk away with the victory, scoring 17 of the teams last 23 points, and cutting Michigan's lead to just four when the final buzzer sounded.
Western shot 48.8 percent from the field, while Michigan finished the game shooting 45.2 percent. Each team connected on seven three-pointers in the conest and the Leathernecks out-rebounded the Wolverines, 27-22.
After opening the 2011-12 season with two road games, the Leathernecks will return home to face the Greenville College Panthers at Waste Management Court inside of Western Hall next Tuesday (Nov. 22).
