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Western Illinois University Athletics

Garret Covington FP
WIU Visual Productions Center
78
Winner Denver DEN 16-10 (8-5)
72
Western Illinois WIU 8-16 (5-8)
Winner
Denver DEN
16-10 (8-5)
78
Final
72
Western Illinois WIU
8-16 (5-8)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Denver DEN 49 29 78
Western Illinois WIU 27 45 72

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

Western Illinois’ Comeback Effort Falls Short as Denver Wins 78-72

WIU rattled off a 20-0 run in the second half but were unable to regain the lead

PHOTOS

MACOMB, Ill. – Denver was able to halt Western Illinois' comeback effort Tuesday evening (Feb. 14) inside Western Hall as the Pioneers topped the Leathernecks 78-72 in Summit League play.
 
"We're beyond moral victories with our program," said head coach Billy Wright. "We want to be able to close these things out, and at the same time, we don't want to get down 20, especially at home, and especially when we're not doing the things we know we're capable of doing."
 
After a first half that was all Denver, WIU trailed by 26 points early in the second before ripping off a 28-3 run (including 20 straight) and cutting its deficit to one point, 56-55, with 10:26 to play.
 
The Leathernecks hung around without regaining the lead and again found themselves down only one with less than two minutes to play. A missed WIU free throw, which would have tied the game, allowed for Denver to seal their victory with made free throws down the stretch.
 
"Just simple defensive miscues allowed them to get up 20-plus points, and we revisited those miscues at halftime. The kids did a great job executing (from that point) defensively, and obviously made shots, but when you look at the first half, we just didn't execute," continued Wright. "We got good shots, that wasn't the issue at all. We took care of the ball for the most part, but we just didn't execute the simple plays on defense and it cost us in the first half."
 
Denver improved to 16-10 overall and 8-5 in league play after the win, while Western dropped to 8-16 overall and 5-8 in Summit League action.
 
"We were still trying to attack the basket. We felt like, if we could get to the rim or get to the paint, we had the option to kick it and finish, and I thought our guys did a really good job balancing that with finishing at the rim. We got a couple of and-ones, and obviously our pick-and-roll offense is pretty good when we're sharp and locked in, and we were able to find Brandon (Gilbeck) on the roll, and he stepped up and made some big buckets down the stretch as well. When you look at it, we had every opportunity, even when it was close, and when you go 12-for-21 from the free throw line, that doesn't help any either," concluded Wright.
 
Seniors Garret Covington and Mike Miklusak led WIU with 22 points and 21 points, respectively. Covington also dished out a team-high five assists, while Miklusak also contributed eight rebounds and did not turn the ball over in 37 minutes of play.
 
Finishing one point shy of a double-double was sophomore center Brandon Gilbeck who tallied a team-best 11 rebounds and nine points. Gilbeck, who ranks in the top 10 nationally in blocks per game, finished with four blocks on the evening.
 
Freshman C.J. Duff contributed eight points and four assists.
 
The Leathernecks shot 38.5% from the field and 40% from three in the first half before shooting 51.7% from the floor and 54.5% from long range in the second.
 
Denver was led by Daniel Amigo who finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds.
 
Western Illinois heads to Fargo, N.D. for their final road game of the season Saturday (Feb. 18) for a contest against league-leading North Dakota State. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m. and the contest is scheduled to air live on ESPN3.

   
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