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Western Illinois University Athletics

WC 25
Rachael Keating
64
UT Martin UTM 3-6,0-0 OVC
81
Winner Western Ill. WIU 7-2,0-0 Summit League
UT Martin UTM
3-6,0-0 OVC
64
Final
81
Western Ill. WIU
7-2,0-0 Summit League
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UT Martin UTM 24 40 64
Western Ill. WIU 37 44 81

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

Leathernecks Remain Undefeated at Home

Will Carius scored 26 as the ‘Necks won their seventh game of the season.

MACOMB, ILL. – The Western Illinois University Fighting Leatherneck men's basketball team played on Saturday (Dec. 4), defeating the Skyhawks of UT-Martin 81-64 at Western Hall. After the win, the Leathernecks have matched their win total from last season and are now 5-0 on the season when playing at Western Hall.
 
After Colton Sandage's 33-point performance in Wednesday's win, it was Will Carius who took control and led the team to victory. He scored 26 points on 10-15 shooting from the field and made five of his nine attempts from behind the arc, grabbing three rebounds and finishing with both a steal and a block. Carius made clutch shot after clutch shot in this game, hitting a turnaround jumper and hook shot on back-to-back possessions after the Skyhawks cut the lead to just eight points with less than eight minutes remaining in the game.
 
"I thought he was patient, you know Will is just trying to stay locked in because he's not 100% and he's doing a heck of a job," head coach Rob Jeter said. "He played like a veteran tonight, just let things come to him and that's good to see."
 
Trenton Massner continued his hard work on the glass by grabbing seven rebounds and set a season-high for assists with eight. Massner finished with 12 points on 4-9 shooting and made 3-4 from the line in 37 minutes of action, blocking one shot and finishing with three steals. He's now averaging 13.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and four assists per game this season.
 
After UT-Martin cut the lead to ten with 5:54 remaining in the second half, Western went on a 12-3 run to close the game out. Four different Leathernecks scored during the five-minute period of play, extending the lead to 81-62 with under a minute to play in the game.
 
Tamell Pearson scored in double figures for the second-straight game, pouring in 17 points on 7-10 shooting, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out three assists. Luka Barisic had an efficient eight points (4-8 shooting), and Colton Sandage made two shots behind the arc on his way to eight points. George Dixon scored nine points and grabbed six boards in 19 minutes off the bench, and Jadrian Flores had a steal in ten minutes of action.
 
"It's big for him, and it's big for our team because we need Melly," Jeter said. "It's good to see that he can play with some confidence. Anytime we can get any of those guys outside of Will, Colton and Trenton going it's big - those other guys are very important and we need to get them going."
 
As a team, the Leathernecks shot 52.6% from the field, making nine shots from behind the arc and hitting 12 free throws. After grabbing nine offensive rebounds, they scored 12 second-chance points and 38 in the paint and forced 15 turnovers while finishing with 11.
 
"The biggest stat that jumps out to me is those turnovers, we had five in the first three minutes and finished with 11, I thought we did a nice job of taking care of the ball the rest of the way," Jeter added. "Now we'll just get on the bus, have a nice ride up to Michigan, hopefully it doesn't snow and we'll be good."
 
WIU men's basketball will travel to Mount Pleasant, Mich., to play Central Michigan on Sunday (Dec. 5). Tip-off against the Chippewas is scheduled for 1 p.m. and RJ Larson will have the call live on Q98.1.
 
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