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Men's Basketball Advances to Summit League Tournament Semifinals

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

Links on how to follow along with Monday's (March 11) semi-final are available.

No. 8 Western Illinois (10-20) vs. No. 4 North Dakota State (16-15)                                 
Date/Tipoff: March 11, 2019 | 6 p.m.
Location: Sioux Falls, S.D.
Site: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
Radio: Danny Frey on the Leatherneck Sports Network (WRMS 94.3 & WJEQ 102.7)
TV: MidcoSN & ESPN+
 
Last Time Out: For the first time in three seasons, The Summit League Tournament's title game will not include the three-time reigning champions, South Dakota State. Western Illinois' men's basketball team knocked off the Jackrabbits, 79-76, in the quarterfinal round Saturday (March 9) to become the first No. 8 seed in league history to defeat the No. 1. The victory was also the first Summit League Tournament victory for the Leathernecks since March 9, 2013.  

The final two minutes inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center were electrifying as the Leathernecks clung to a 77-76 advantage with 11.5 seconds left. David Jenkins knocked down a desperation 3-pointer for what became SDSU's final bucket of the game and both teams were over the foul limit when the Jacks elected to send Keshon Montague to the line.  He entered the game for the first time with 47 seconds left on the clock and nailed both free throws to cement Western's victory. 

"It's a tremendous victory for our program," head coach Billy Wright said. "We kept chipping away at it in the sense of last year and last week. Going into this game, we knew it was hard to beat a team three times in a row. Hats off to our guys for making the adjustments to execute the game plan for 40 minutes."

Ben Pyle brought the Leatherneck contingent to its feet as he scored the first points of the game on a left-wing 3-pointer, which spiraled into a 9-4 WIU edge by the first media timeout (15:36). The freshman scored five points during the stretch, and when his team saw its lead relinquished, 13-12, Pyle responded on the very next possession.

Back-to-back 3-pointers forced SDSU to call a timeout with Western ahead, 18-13, at the 11:31 mark and turnovers were converted into points for the Purple and Gold, as a pair of steals led to fastbreak buckets by Isaac Johnson.

The Leathernecks took a double-digit lead at 29-18 with 7:10 remaining and stayed on top for a 38-28 edge at halftime.
 
South Dakota State went 4-for-5 from the field just before the first media of the second half (15:52), but the makes weren't enough to knock Western off course. Coming out of the break, back-to-back 3-pointers from Webster and Zion Young helped WIU to its largest lead of the night at 50-36.

The Jacks pulled within seven with 8:41 remaining and were met by the Leathernecks at the end of each threat. Webster and Johnson trapped the Jacks in the frontcourt, which led to the steal and score that extended Western's edge to 65-56 at the 5:39 mark and the team kept its advantage through the final horn. 

Pyle and Webster finished the night with 17 points apiece while Brandon Gilbeck, Zion Young and Isaac Johnson each added 13. Gilbeck also added a double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds. 
 
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