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Western Illinois University Athletics

Mike Miklusak FP
WIU Visual Productions Center
79
Winner OMAHA OMAHA 13-11 (6-5)
67
Western Illinois WIU 7-15 (4-7)
Winner
OMAHA OMAHA
13-11 (6-5)
79
Final
67
Western Illinois WIU
7-15 (4-7)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
OMAHA OMAHA 36 43 79
Western Illinois WIU 31 36 67

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

Mavericks Best Leathernecks in Men’s Basketball Saturday Night

Mike Miklusak scored a career-high 26 points in the defeat

MACOMB, Ill. – The Omaha Mavericks used a 15-0 second-half run to regain the lead and pull away to a 79-67 victory over the Western Illinois Leathernecks Saturday evening (Feb. 4) inside Western Hall.
 
The Leathernecks fall to 7-15 overall and 4-7 in league play after the loss, while Omaha improves to 13-11 and 6-5 in league action.
 
"We had a lot of energy in the building, I wish we could've pulled it out for our fans. I appreciate everyone's effort for that. But the story of the game, give Omaha credit, they forced us into 16 turnovers that led to 26 points, and you can't do that," said head coach Billy Wright. "We have to shore-up the ball. And then we gave them 15 points, just off of offensive rebounds, second chance points. You look at that, that's kind of where the game got out of hand for us."
 
Senior Mike Miklusak finished with a career-best 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from long range. The Dyer, Ind. native also grabbed six rebounds, dished out two assists and recorded two steals.
 
Two other Leathernecks scored in double figures. Dalan Ancrum tallied 11 points, four rebounds, two steals, two assists and a block, and Brandon Gilbeck finished with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Senior Garret Covington scored nine points and pulled down six boards.
 
"Day by day, we want to get better, we want to be consistent. And then game-by-game. It's a game-by-game situation and you have to look at it big-picture. Obviously, we like the fact that we have the majority (of our remaining games) at home, but at the same time, it's not who you play or where you play, it's how you play," continued Wright.
 
Turnovers proved to be costly for WIU. The Leathernecks committed one more turnover than Omaha, 16-15, but the Mavs were able to score 26 points off of WIU's mishaps compared to Western's 11 points off turnovers.
 
The Mavericks jumped out to an early lead and built their advantage up to as many as 11 points eight minutes into the contest, 22-11.
 
For the remainder of the first half Western was able to chip away at Omaha's lead and went in to the break down five, 36-31.
 
WIU continued where it left off at the end of the opening half, using a 10-7 run to grab its first lead of the contest, 41-39, just over two minutes into the second.
 
A 15-0 Maverick run would wipe away the Leathernecks' small advantage and allow UNO to build its lead back up to double-digits.
 
The Leathernecks were able to get within seven points with less than three minutes to play in the game, but Omaha pulled away and picked up its sixth league victory of the season.
 
Omaha was led by Marcus Tyus who finished with 25 points.
 
"The things that we can improve on and get better are there. And we have to get ready for a long road trip to Oral Roberts," concluded Wright.
 
The Leathernecks return to the road on Wednesday (Feb. 8) for a contest against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
 
 
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