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Mike Miklusak
WIU Visual Productions Center
76
Omaha OMAHA 15-9, 7-3
83
Winner Western Illinois WIU 8-13, 1-9
Omaha OMAHA
15-9, 7-3
76
Final
83
Western Illinois WIU
8-13, 1-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Omaha OMAHA 37 39 76
Western Illinois WIU 37 46 83

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

Leathernecks Trump Omaha at Home Wednesday Night

Mike Miklusak recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds

PHOTOS | COACH WRIGHT POSTGAME INTERVIEW
 
MACOMB, Ill. – The Omaha Mavericks jumped out to an early advantage Wednesday evening inside Western Hall, but the Fighting Leathernecks battled back and grabbed their first Summit League victory of the season, 83-76.
 
Western improves to 1-9 in league play and 8-13 overall, while Omaha, who entered the game tied for first in the league standings, dropped to 7-3 in the league and 15-9 overall.
 
"Obviously we're thrilled about the outcome of the game. We've had so many close ones here in the last 11, and it just feels really good to get a win," said head coach Billy Wright. "Our kids did a really good job of closing out the game. (Omaha) is really a good ball club, they do a really good job of mixing it up with an inside and outside presence. For 40 minutes, we played really, really, efficient at both ends of the floor and that was the basis of the game, just being consistent and efficient for 40 minutes."
 
Omaha came out on fire, knocking down 7-of-9 triples over the first nine minutes of the game on its way to building an 11-point advantage, 23-12. Western then began to slowly chip away at the Mavericks lead, eventually heading into the locker room tied 37-37 at the break.
 
The two teams then played a tightly contested first 10 minutes of the second half before WIU grabbed its largest lead up until that point, 57-53, forcing an Omaha timeout with 10:28 to play in regulation.
 
UNO was able to cut its deficit to two points a couple times shortly after its timeout, but the Leathernecks built their lead up to as much as 10 points and closed out the important league victory.
 
Junior Mike Miklusak picked up his first career double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds in 20 minutes of action. He also swiped two steals and shot 6-of-9 from the field.
 
Garret Covington, a junior from Edwardsville, Ill., finished with a game-high 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 9-of-11 from the free throw line. He moved up to 14th all-time on WIU's career scoring list, now having scored 1,220 career points.
 
Like Covington, fellow junior Jabari Sandifer also shot 6-of-12 from the field and finished with 17 points. He also knocked down 2-of-3 from long range and dished out a team-best six assists.
 
Senior forward Tate Stensgaard, who led the league in field goal percentage heading into the game, added 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and grabbed five boards.
 
Western shot 50.0 percent from the field compared to Omaha's 43.1. WIU also took care of the ball and distributed it effectively, recording 14 assists and only nine turnovers.
 
Omaha was led by Jake White who finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds.
 
"Our goal is to make the tournament and we have an opportunity here to get better the next few games. We have the weekend off in terms of no games, so we're just all about each day, and each game being about who we are and getting better at what we do," concluded Wright.
 
The Leathernecks are off until Feb. 11 when they travel to Denver to face the Pioneers. WIU and Denver are slated to tipoff at 8 p.m. CT.
  
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