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Western Illinois University Athletics

Ball state
80
Ball St. BSU 3-4,0-0 MAC
93
Winner Western Ill. WIU 6-2,0-0 Summit League
Ball St. BSU
3-4,0-0 MAC
80
Final
93
Western Ill. WIU
6-2,0-0 Summit League
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Ball St. BSU 33 47 80
Western Ill. WIU 44 49 93

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

Sandage's Career Night Fuels Leatherneck Victory

The junior guard set a career record for scoring in Western’s 93-80 victory over Ball State.

MACOMB, ILL. – The Western Illinois University Fighting Leatherneck men's basketball team played on Wednesday (Dec. 1), defeating the Cardinals of Ball State 93-80 at Western Hall. The Leathernecks are now 6-2 on the season and within one win of last year's season total.
 
"Huge win tonight," head coach Rob Jeter said. "I know the confidence is high, I think the understanding of what we need to do is even better. I like the fact that it's one guy one night, could be a different guy another night. Sometimes we have some inside play and we just seem to pick each other up, have a next-man-up mentality and that's really important."
 
Though the first half was an evenly matched contest, Western used a 17-4 run from 10:33-4:31 to turn a tied ballgame into a 13-point advantage. Ball State would climb back into the game with a 6-0 run of their own soon after, but the Leathernecks took a lead into the break. At halftime Western led the game in three-point shooting (8-15) and offensive rebounds (6-4), forcing eight turnovers. Colton Sandage came out firing to the tune of 19 first-half points, driving Western's 44-33 lead.
 
The Cardinals, however, didn't go down easy, cutting the deficit to single digits on multiple occasions during the second period of play. Despite their push to even the score, Western's defense held strong and the Leathernecks controlled the game, never allowing the point differential to be less than seven on their way to a 93-80 victory.
 
Sandage led all scorers with 33 points on 11-16 shooting from the field, 7-9 from deep and 4-5 from the line. With tonight's performance, Sandage set a career-high for points scored in a game, surpassing a 32-point outburst against Oral Roberts last season.

"It's a big win, they're a good team. We've been playing some really tough teams back-to-back and keep reeling off these wins, so it shows that we're a good team," Sandage said. "With this team anybody can step up and be the leading scorer - we have a bunch of good players and tonight it was my night. The guys gave me the ball when I had open shots and we did a really doing what we needed to do to get a win."
 
Trenton Massner scored 18 to go with eight rebounds, four assists one block and three steals, and Luka Barisic scored 14 points. Tamell Pearson had another strong performance, chipping in 13 points and seven rebounds in just under 25 minutes of action, and Will Carius added nine points and five rebounds to go with his team-leading two blocks. 12 total Leathernecks played in the game, with Jadrian Flores and George Dixon leading the bench unit, each playing over 13 minutes.
 
"I think what's really huge about it is that it can be different guys for us," Jeter said. "It was Will the other night, Colton tonight, we've seen Trenton have good games, and that's what we need. We need that type of balance from guys. I thought Tamell was terrific even though he was in foul trouble, it's good to see that, see that teams can't just load up on one guy."
 
As a team, the Leathernecks shot 31-67 (46.3%) from the field, making 14-31 from behind-the-arc and 17 free throws. The team grabbed 35 rebounds (14 offensive) and dished out 13 assists, blocking three Cardinal shots and forcing 17 turnovers. Three players finished with at least two steals, and Western scored 18 points off those turnovers while drawing 22 total fouls.
 
The Leathernecks are back in action on Sunday (Dec. 4) for a matchup against UT-Martin. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Western Hall and tickets can be purchased at Leathernecktickets.com.
 
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