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Western Illinois University Athletics

Head coach billy wright
Nicholas Stewart
The game marked head coach Billy Wright's first in charge of the Leatherneck men's basketball program.
73
Winner Pacific PAC 1-0
71
Western Illinois WIU 0-1
Winner
Pacific PAC
1-0
73
Final
71
Western Illinois WIU
0-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Pacific PAC 36 31 6 73
Western Illinois WIU 31 36 4 71

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Men’s Basketball Drops Season Opener in Heartbreaking Fashion to Pacific

Western Illinois struggled from the free throw line, shooting just 54.8% from the charity stripe compared to Pacific’s 70.8% free throw shooting percentage

MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois struggled from the free throw line in its 73-71 season-opening, overtime loss to Pacific Friday night (Nov. 14) in Macomb. The game was head coach Billy Wright's first as head coach of the Fighting Leathernecks.
 
"It was a tough loss but I appreciate the support from our fans," said coach Wright. "The crowd support was great, I'm just a little disappointed we couldn't pull it out tonight. Our kids feel bad but I'm proud of their effort. Give Pacific credit, they did a good job. It wasn't easy for them either, travelling across the country. Overall, I'm pleased with our effort. Our guys could have folded at the end of regulation but they battled. They just came up a little short."
 
Western Illinois made only 17 of its 31 (54.8%) attempts from the charity stripe compared to Pacific connecting on 17-of-24 (70.8%) of its attempts.
 
WIU trailed 36-31 at the midway point before opening the second half on an 8-0 run and taking a 39-36 lead. The Leathernecks were able to build their lead up to as much as seven points with 12:32 left in regulation.
 
The Tigers of Pacific answered with a 10-3 run to knot things up 53-53 with less than 10 minutes to play. For the remainder of the second half the two teams went back-and-forth with neither team gaining more than a three-point advantage.
 
Overtime was close as well with the Leathernecks holding a lead throughout the beginning of the period. With less than two seconds left Pacific was able to score on a Gabriel Aguirre layup assisted by David Taylor, which proved to be the game winner.
 
Garret Covington led four Leathernecks in double figures with 15. Mike Miklusak (11), Jamie Batish (10) and Dalan Ancrum (10) also finished with double digits in the scoring column.
 
To go along with his 15 points, Covington also tallied six rebounds and two assists.
 
Tate Stensgaard led the team in rebounds, with seven, and assists with four. He also recorded four points, a block and a steal.
 
Besides bettering the Leathernecks in free throw shooting, Pacific also out-rebounded WIU (43-38), shot better from the field (41.9-39.7), and had more steals (6-4).
 
The Leathernecks did win the turnover battle, committing only nine to the Tigers 11.
 
Pacific also had four players finish with 10 or more points led by T.J. Wallace who tallied a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Western returns to the court Monday when they play UIC in Chicago. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.
 
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