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Western Illinois University Athletics

Isaac Johnson
74
North Dakota State NDSU 13-16 (4-9)
82
Winner Western Illinois WIU 12-14 (3-10)
North Dakota State NDSU
13-16 (4-9)
74
Final
82
Western Illinois WIU
12-14 (3-10)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Dakota State NDSU 25 49 74
Western Illinois WIU 33 49 82

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

Isaac Johnson Leads Surge Past Bison

Freshman scores 29 points and grabs 10 rebounds in win

MACOMB, Ill. - Isaac Johnson was able to being his road dominance to Western Hall Thursday (Feb. 22) after leading the Western Illinois Leathernecks to a 82-74 win over North Dakota State . The Minneapolis native scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win against the Bison.
 
"I credit our defense that fueled a lot of our offense and we made shots and took care of the basketball," said head coach Billy Wright. "Down the stretch, we knew we were going to have to play soundly, no matter what the scoreboard said. We knew we would have to contest shots and block out."
 
Dalan Ancrum added 23 points and six rebounds while Kobe Webster recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Leatherneck defense proved to be pesky in the first four minutes of the contest as Western forced three Bison turnovers in their first three possessions. Johnson led the early charge for the Leathernecks on offense scoring six points points in the first five minutes of the ballgame.
 
The Purple and Gold scored the first 10 points of the game and used that to jump out to a 16-3 lead during the first seven minutes of the contest. With 14:36 to go, Webster stood at the top of the key and threw an underhand pass to find an open Brandon Gilbeck for a dunk.
 
Over the next three minutes the Bison would go on an 8-0 run and force a Leatherneck timeout. Once again, Johnson halted the North Dakota State run with a jumper at the free throw line. The rest of the half was back-and-forth, with both teams trading baskets.
 
With 13 seconds remaining in the first half, Delo Bruster jumped in front of a Bison pass, drove and got fouled with 0.8 seconds remaining until the break. He made both of the free throws to push the Leatherneck lead to 33-25 at halftime.
 
It took over two minutes for the Leathernecks to score in the second half, but after an Ancrum trifecta with 17:44 to go, WIU scored seven points in 40 seconds, extending its advantage to 40-27.
 
A North Dakota State 3-pointer cut the lead to five points, but Ancrum netted his 13th point of the contest off of a baseline basket.
 
The Bison climbed to within three points with 4:31 to play, but two Webster free throws put Western back up by five points. Gilbeck rebounded a missed Western shot, spun and scored to make the score 63-59 with 2:53 to play.
 
Starting at 2:27 in the second half, the Leathernecks went on a 8-0 run to push their lead to nine points. The run was highlighted by a drive from Johnson that he was fouled on. North Dakota State hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in the game to bring them to within five points, but it was not enough.
 
The Leathernecks wrap up regular season play on Saturday (Feb. 24) against Denver at 7 p.m. Ancrum, Lynrick Moxey and Chris Snyder will be honored as seniors before the game.
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