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Western Illinois University Athletics

Gilbeck Dunk
Sarah Twidwell
58
SIUE SIUE 1-4 (0-0)
83
Winner Western Illinois WIUMM 3-4 (0-0)
SIUE SIUE
1-4 (0-0)
58
Final
83
Western Illinois WIUMM
3-4 (0-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
SIUE SIUE 24 34 58
Western Illinois WIUMM 37 46 83

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

Leathernecks Crush Cougars at Home

Western Illinois sank 12 three-pointers in a balanced 83-58 win over SIUE.

MACOMB, Ill..— The Western Illinois (3-4) men's basketball team shot 58 percent from the field in a dominant 83-58 victory over SIUE (1-4) on Wednesday night (Nov. 28).  
 
"We were clicking most of the night," head coach Billy Wright said. "It was fun to watch but more importantly we played the right way on both ends of the floor. Brandon (Gilbeck) is a force at both ends of the floor and we're better when he's on the floor. We want to have a balanced attack inside and out. It's hard to guard our guys when we're taking in-rhythm shots."
 
The Leathernecks embarked on a 9-2 run to start the game, guided by the play of Brandon Gilbeck and Isaac Johnson.  Western's 7-footer worked off the dribble to open the game with a midrange jumper and the Leathernecks never trailed from there, despite a pressuring Cougar offense.
 
SIUE crept within four, 12-8, at the midpoint of the first half and attempted to use the paint for scoring opportunities – many of those attempts were blocked by Gilbeck. His fourth swat led to a transition dunk on the opposite end of the floor as Western led by as much as 14 points in the opening half.
 
Zion Young drained a deep three-pointer as time expired to send his team into the locker room with a 37-24 advantage and the Leatherneck came out of the break on fire.
 
Ben Pyle hit back-to-back three-pointers to force an early SIUE timeout in the second half nearly three minutes as the margin moved out of reach, 47-25. Offensive measures saw the team nearly double its lead at 65-33 on a trey from Kobe Webster at the 11-minute mark as the Leathernecks crowned the second half shooting 62.5 percent (15-for-24) from the field. Webster knocked down another triple for the largest lead of the evening, 75-40 with 6:30 to go. 
 
Webster led the way with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. Johnson scored 20 points while Gilbeck nearly missed a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds and six blocks. C.J. Duff rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 points. 

The Leathernecks head back on the road to play another OVC team at Southeast Missouri State on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 6:30 p.m. 
 
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