MACOMB, Ill. - Junior forward Terell Parks finished Thursday evening's 55-51 Summit League victory over North Dakota State with his third consecutive double-double, pacing the Leathernecks with 14 points and 15 rebounds.

"I knew they would die extremely hard," said Leatherneck head coach Jim Molinari. "They came in 6-0 and they're a really hard team to score against, and they lead the conference in scoring so they have a great balance on both sides." 

The Leathernecks earned their third straight victory, improving to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in Summit League action. The three straight wins was something Western hadn't done since 2010 when it rattled off four straight in the month of February. NDSU, who was picked to finish fourth in the league, suffered their first loss of the season, falling to 6-1 overall and 0-1 in league play.

The Summit League opening victory was also the first since the 2008-09 season when Western defeated IUPUI in Indianapolis on December 6th.

To go along side Parks' double-double, freshman forward Obi Emegano (15) and junior forward Jack Houpt (11) scored in the double-figures. Senior guard Tommie Tyler finished with a game-high seven assists.

Coach Molinari emphasized his team's impressive defense effort.

"I think for our team that's what we have to look like, that's Western Illinois basketball," said coach Molinari. "Our identity is that we are going to defend.  I think we defended, we got stops down the stretch and that's how we have to play. We make the other team make a lot of passes, take a hard shot and rebound the basketball.  I think that was the case and that's what we have to do game in and game out."

The Leathernecks jumped out to an 11-2 lead early, helping build a lead that they did not give up till late in the second half.

Emegano and Parks gave Western a 4-0 lead early, then, after NDSU posted their first points of the game, Western rattled off seven more sparked by freshman reserve Remy Roberts-Burnett. Roberts-Burnett came in and converted on a layup, fastbreak dunk, and a long jumper extending Western's lead to 13-5 midway through the first.

After the Bison hit a jumper and free throw, Houpt connected on his first triple of the game to give the Leathernecks a 16-8 lead with just over nine minutes left in the half.

NDSU used a 7-0 run to cut Western's lead to one point, 16-15, but Houpt hit on a pair of free throws to extend the Leathernecks lead back to three points.

The lone tie of the first half came with 3:03 left when Taylor Braun drilled mid-range jumper to knot things up at 20. Western then scored six straight points to extend their lead to six heading into the break, 26-20.

NDSU came out of the break and posted the first two points of the half, but Emegano answered the Bison with a nice reverse layup on Western's first possession. The two teams then each connected on baskets during their next possession, giving Western the 30-24 lead.

A jumper from Roberts-Burnett and a triple from Houpt maintained Western's six point lead, 39-33, with 12:42 left in the game.

Four minutes later, Western used a 9-0 run, highlighted by layups from Tyler and Parks, and a three-pointer from Houpt, his third of the game to give the Leathernecks the 12-point advantage.

The Bison answered, putting together a 10-0 run over a span of six and a half minutes, making the score 48-46 in favor of Western with just 2:30 remaining in regulation.

Parks ended the Leathernecks' scoring drought with a tough bucket under the hoop with 2:22 left on the clock, giving Western the 50-46 lead.

Bison guard Mike Felt's three-pointer capped off NDSU's 5-0 run that gave the Bison their first lead of the contest with 1:44 left.

Junior forward Don McAvoy III entered the game off of the bench and gave Western its lead back with a big jumper from the right side, 52-51.

On the Bison's next possession, Emegano took a charge, giving Western the ball back with 33.2 seconds remaining in regulation and a one-point lead.

Free throws from Emegano, senior guard Ceola Clark III and Parks, along with a few defensive stands, propelled the Leathernecks to a 55-51 victory in their 2011-12 Summit League opener.

Western finished the game having shot 38.5 percent from the field, while the Bison hit on 36.4 percent of their shots. NDSU finished the game with one more rebound than Western, 35-34, and the Leathernecks won the turnover battle, 20-11.

The Bison were led by Lawrence Alexander and Taylor Braun who finished with 16 points and 12 points, respectively, while each also finished with four assists.

The Leathernecks will continue their home stand Saturday evening at 7 p.m. when they welcome the South Dakota State Jackrabbits (5-3, 1-0) to Waste Management Court.

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