MACOMB, Ill. -Â Western Illinois men's basketball (9-14, 2-10) continues Summit League play on the road Wednesday (Feb. 17) at North Dakota State (16-10, 6-6)... The game is slated to tipoff at 7 p.m.
UP NEXT: After the Leathernecks play their final regular season road game this Wednesday (Feb. 17) at North Dakota State, Western plays three consecutive home games to finish the regular season against South Dakota State (Feb. 20), Fort Wayne (Feb. 25), and South Dakota (Feb. 27)... The top eight teams then journey to Sioux Falls, S.D. for the 2016 Summit League Tournament.
CHASE FOR THE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT: Western Illinois has four games left in the regular season and is only 1.5 games out of eighth place and 2.5 games out of sixth and seventh place in The Summit League standings with a 2-10 league mark... South Dakota is 4-9 in league play, and both Denver and Oral Roberts are 5-8... Based on the last 10 years of the Summit League standings, the average number of wins for the eighth seed in the tournament is 4.4... The most wins by an eighth seed heading into the tournament over that time was seven during the 2010-11 season, and the next highest was six which happened twice (08-09 & 09-10)... The lowest win total came during the 2013-14 season when there was only eight teams in the league... The total was one... The next lowest eighth seed win total was three, which happened during both the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.
SENIOR BIGS: Western Illinois senior forwards Tate Stensgaard and Jalen Chapman have both been having individual success on the basketball court for Western as of late, and both are having the best seasons of their careers... Through the last five games, Chapman and Stensgaard rank second and third on the team in scoring, averaging 12.6 and 9.6 points, respectively... During that same time the two having combined for 10.6 rebounds per game... The two seniors have also been effective from the field, shooting a combined 36-of-57 (57.8 percent)... Stensgaard has made 20-of-31 (64.5) shots from the field during the last five games, and Chapman has connected on 21-of-40 (52.5) of his attempts.
COVINGTON'S THIRD YEAR AS A LEATHERNECK: Over the last three seasons, one constant for the WIU men's basketball team has been Garret Covington as the team's leader in points and 3-point field goals, and he has shot effectively from the free throw line... His scoring average has increased every year so far: freshman - 14.6, sophomore - 15.5 and junior - 17.3... During his freshman season he made 70 triples (38.7 percent of his attempts) and shot 80.0 percent from free throw line (92-115)... As a sophomore he made 63 shots from long range (made 35.6 percent of his attempts) and shot 82.8 percent from the charity stripe (101-122)... With four regular season games remaining in his junior season, he has made 63 threes (42.9 percent of his attempts) and is shooting 84.1 percent from the free throw line (74-88).
LEATHERNECKS VS. BISON SERIES HISTORY: North Dakota State leads the all-time series 12-7... The series was tied prior to the beginning of the 2013-14 season before NDSU has swept WIU each of the last two seasons, and defeated WIU in each of the last five meetings... All games have been Summit League regular season league games or Summit League Tournament games, with the Leathernecks winning the first-ever meeting on January 12, 2008, 83-67, in Macomb... The Bison went on to win six of the next seven meetings before WIU earned five consecutive during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
INSIDE WESTERN HALL: Western is 43-21 (.672) inside Western Hall since the beginning of the 2011-12 season... The Leathernecks went 10-4 (.714) during their 2011-12 campaign, 12-2 (.857) during the 2012-13 league slate, 7-5 in 2013-14 (.583), 8-6 (.571) in 2014-15, and are 6-4 (.600) so far this season on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court inside Western Hall.
ROAD RAGE: Western is 3-10 so far this season on the road... WIU is 17-52 (.246) on the road since the beginning of the 2011-12 season, and 3-34 (.081) in the last two seasons... The Leathernecks went 6-10 (.375) in 2011-12, they were above .500 in 2012-13 with a 7-6 (.538) road mark, struggled again during the 2013-14 season with a 1-13 (.071) record on the road, and went 0-13 (.000) in 2014-15.
THE LAST TIME OUT: The Western Illinois men's basketball team attempted to overcome an early deficit Saturday evening (Feb. 13) at Oral Roberts, but the Golden Eagles halted WIU's comeback effort and ended the Leathernecks' win streak, 72-66... The first five minutes of the game may have been the difference as Oral Roberts was able to jump out to an 18-3 lead to kickoff the contest... WIU didn't fold though, as the Leathernecks gradually cut their deficit to single digits by halftime, 36-27... Early in the second half Western continued to hack away at the Golden Eagles' advantage, eventually making it a two-point game with 13:40 left in regulation... ORU's lead never grew back into double digits, but the Leathernecks were never able to capture the lead as the Golden Eagles grabbed their second straight league victory... Junior guard Garret Covington led the team in scoring with 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and connecting 5-of-6 attempts from beyond the arc and the free throw line. He also pulled down four rebounds.
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