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Bench Clapping
Sarah Twidwell

Men's Basketball Finishes Road Trip in the State of North Dakota

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

Western Illinois takes on North Dakota State (Jan. 10) and North Dakota (Jan. 12) on the road.

Western Illinois (6-10,1-2) at North Dakota State (7-10, 1-2)                                    
Date/Tipoff: Jan. 10, 2019 | 7 p.m.
Location: Fargo, N.D.
Site: Scheels Center
Radio: Danny Frey (WRMS 94.3 & WJEQ 102.7)

Last Time Out: The Western Illinois (6-10, 1-2) men's basketball team fell behind after a 23-0 run in the first half by Oral Roberts (7-11, 3-0) in an 82-62 loss Saturday night (Jan.5).
 
Kobe Webster drained a 3-pointer to give the Leathernecks an 8-7 lead with 15:27 to go in the first half. Two minutes later, Webster drilled another triple to bring Western within one trailing 12-11. Until 7:04 left before halftime, Oral Roberts embarked on a 23-0 run and led 35-11 after a mid-range jumper by Kevin Obanor.
 
A layup by Ben Pyle cut the deficit to 38-24 (2:38), but the Golden Eagles finished the first half on a 10-2 run for a 48-26 advantage over the Leathernecks.
 
With under 12 minutes left in the second half, Isaac Johnson buried a wing trifecta followed by a thunderous dunk by Brandon Gilbeck to trim the score down to 59-54 at the 11-minute mark but that was the closest Western Illinois would get to a comeback in the second half.
 
Webster scored 15 points with five rebounds and six assists while Johnson contributed 15 points off the bench. Gilbeck scored 12 points and blocked a game-high seven shots.
 
Series History against North Dakota State: The Bison lead the all-time series 16-8 and NDSU won ten straight against the Leathernecks until their last meeting on Feb. 22, 2018, when Western prevailed 82-74 behind a career-high 29 points from Isaac Johnson inside Western Hall.
 
Scouting the Bison: North Dakota State (7-10) is coming off an 85-53 win over non-Division I opponent Dickinson State on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 6). Junior guard Tyson Ward led the charge with 15 points and six rebounds in only 16 minutes of play. Sophomore forward Rocky Kreuser added 14 points while battling foul trouble.

Junior forward Deng Ghu leads the Bison with 11.9 points per game all off of the bench while also pacing his squad with 18 blocks. Ward averages 11.7 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game. Junior guard Vinnie Shahid puts up 11.4 points a night while leading his team with 44 assists. Kreuser rounds out the double-digit scoring averages with 10.4. David Richman is 84-61 in his fifth season as the head coach at his alma mater.  
 
Western Illinois (6-10,1-2) at North Dakota (7-9, 1-2)                                    
Date/Tipoff: Jan. 12, 2019 | 2 p.m.
Location: Grand Forks, N.D.
Site: Betty Engelstad Sioux Center
Radio: Danny Frey (WRMS 94.3 & WJEQ 102.7)
 
Series History against North Dakota: The Leathernecks lead the all-time series 3-2 and the two teams have not met since Dec. 22, 2011 when Western Illinois defeated North Dakota by a final score of 68-46.
 
Scouting the Fighting Hawks: North Dakota (7-9) recently defeated Denver, 80-59 on the road for its first-ever victory in Summit League play. Freshman guard and former North Dakota Mr. Basketball Aanen Moody contributed a team-high 21 points off the bench in the win over the Pioneers. The Fighting Hawks will battle Omaha on Thursday (Jan. 10) before playing host to the Leathernecks on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 12).

Heading into Thursday, Cortez Seales leads all North Dakota scorers with 12.6 points per game while also dishing out a team-high 43 assists. Senior forward Conner Avants averages 11.6 points per game while scores 10.2 points a contest off the bench and has swiped a team-high 16 steals. Brian Jones is in his 13th season as the head coach at North Dakota with a current record of 185-208. The Fighting Hawks finished 12-20 during the 2017-18 campaign in their last season as a member of the Big Sky Conference.
 
Rejected: Brandon Gilbeck leads the nation in total blocked shots (63) and is second in blocks per game (3.94) as of Tuesday, Jan. 8. The senior recorded a career-high nine at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 17 to highlight a stellar outing where he also posted a career-high 19 rebounds. 
 
The road game at EIU marked Gilbeck's first time leading the team in rebounds this season. He became the first Leathernecks to post 15 or more since Tate Stensgaard pulled down 15 against Eastern on Dec. 12, 2015. 
 
How They Stack Up in The Summit League: Kobe Webster ranks fourth in The Summit League in scoring at 17.9 points per game and is fifth in assists (3.6 APG) along with 2.5 3-pointers made per game. Webster also ranks second in the league with a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio while Brandon Gilbeck sits at third in the Summit with 8.1 rebounds a contest.
 
Getting It Done in the Classroom: The Leathernecks put together a fall team grade point average of 3.206 which is the third highest in program history. Ten players earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher including three over a 3.6 and one 4.0.
 
20-Something: Kobe Webster has eclipsed the 20-point scoring plateau seven times this season. The sophomore guard has also scored in double figures during every game this year except on Nov. 24 at Nebraska when he was limited to three points.
 
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