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Western Illinois University Athletics

GD
69
Culver-Stockton C-S 0-1
91
Winner Western Ill. WIU 2-0,0-0 Summit League
Culver-Stockton C-S
0-1
69
Final
91
Western Ill. WIU
2-0,0-0 Summit League
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Culver-Stockton C-S 31 38 69
Western Ill. WIU 39 52 91

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

Leathernecks Win Home Opener

Fueled by Will Carius’ 19, the Leathernecks won by 22 points.

MACOMB, ILL. - The Western Illinois University Fighting Leatherneck men's basketball team played their home opener on Friday (Nov. 12), defeating the Culver-Stockton Wildcats 91-69 at Western Hall. Coming off Tuesday's victory against Nebraska on the road, the Leathernecks are now 2-0 ahead of their next matchup against Iowa Wesleyan.
 
"First of all, you have to respect your opponent. This team is coming off five straight wins and they have some talented pieces, so I just felt that we had to wear them down inside and that's eventually what happened," head coach Rob Jeter said. "I liked the fact that we got to the free throw line a lot, I thought that we were relying on the three-pointer too heavily early in the game, but we settled in and got the ball inside."
 
Fueled by quality shooting numbers, the Wildcats capitalized on a back-and-forth game early, taking a six-point advantage with 9:04 remaining in the first half. KJ Lee would hit two three-pointers and Luka Barisic added a lay in as the Leathernecks went on a quick 8-0 run to reclaim the lead. Both teams continued to trade buckets and combined to score on five-straight possessions, but Western Illinois was able to build an eight-point lead at halftime, leading 39-31.
 
Western took their first double-digit lead with 17:47 remaining in the second half thanks to a Tamell Pearson layup. Soon after Will Carius, Colton Sandage and Luka Barisic would hit back-to-back-to-back deep balls to extend Western's lead. The Leathernecks took command down the stretch of this game thanks to a bruising inside presence and size advantage. Midway through the second period, Western went on a 9-0 run to build a 16-point lead and never looked back, winning 91-69.
 
"After that huge win for us at Nebraska it was very important to focus on the team and to win this game tonight. We went to Nebraska as underdogs just the same as the team who came here today did and they wanted to beat us," Luka Barisic said. "We wanted to finish the game earlier because we didn't want to get into a close contest with two or three minutes left, so we just had to step up and make that final step to win."

"That's our identity – we have to play ugly sometimes," Coach Jeter added. "The pretty side of it is when it comes back out of the paint and goes out for the three. There was a big spurt there in the second half where back-to-back-to-back threes created some separation, but I liked the fact that you could see physically we wore them down."

Will Carius led all scorers with 19 points on 6-13 shooting, and Colton Sandage finished with 16 points and five assists. Barisic scored 16 with seven rebounds, and Trenton Massner filled the stat sheet with eight points, four rebounds and four assists on 4-9 shooting. Cameron Burrell led the team's rebounding effort with ten, and five other Leathernecks finished with at least four rebounds. KJ Lee had an efficient shooting night, hitting both of his three-pointers to finish with six points. Tamell Pearson and George Dixon each finished with eight points, four rebounds and a steal.
 
As a team, Western built off their success on the boards against Nebraska, finishing with 47 team rebounds to the Wildcats' 35 (11 to seven on the offensive glass). They shot 50% from the field and made ten of 22 attempts from behind the arc, making 26 free throws and scoring 42 points in the paint. After turning the ball over 18 times against Nebraska, the Leathernecks finished with just seven across 72 possessions against Culver-Stockton.
 
"Let's make sure to keep this in perspective – this is really year one of putting together a team. Last year was just bodies, okay now play. But this is really year one and it's not always going to be pretty," Jeter said. "They started making some shots and we got on our heels a little, but they're going to make shots. I feel good about the trajectory of our team."
 
Western Illinois men's basketball is back in action on Tuesday (Nov. 16), taking on Iowa Wesleyan. Tip-off at Western Hall is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
 
 
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