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Western Illinois University Athletics

ORU
Rachael Keating
52
St. Thomas (MN) UST 8-12,2-6 Summit League
81
Winner Western Ill. WIU 13-8,4-5 Summit League
St. Thomas (MN) UST
8-12,2-6 Summit League
52
Final
81
Western Ill. WIU
13-8,4-5 Summit League
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
St. Thomas (MN) UST 26 26 52
Western Ill. WIU 45 36 81

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

Leathernecks Topple Tommies

All five starters scored in double figures as Western Illinois won its 13th game of the season.

MACOMB, ILL. – The Western Illinois University Fighting Leatherneck men's basketball team played on Saturday (Jan. 29), defeating the University of St. Thomas Tommies 81-52 at Western Hall. With the win, the Leathernecks avenged a loss to UST suffered early in the team's Summit League schedule.
 
"We just needed a win - our expectations are high and everyone in the community has been great in supporting us," associate head coach Chad Boudreau said. "This time of year you're trying to build momentum, and we needed some momentum… this was big for us to bounce back.
 
"It's a great feeling," Luka Barisic added. "We knew before the game that this game would be very important for us to get us going because the last couple of weeks were tough. We lost some games that we had hoped to win, but this was a good comeback."
 
Both teams traded buckets early on, but the Leathernecks used two big runs to grow their lead. It started with a five-minute period where the Tommies shot 0-7 from the field and Western was able to build a 16-7 lead heading into the 12-minute media timeout. Western Illinois then scored nine-straight, allowed a three-pointer, and scored nine more in a row in what ended up being an 18-3 run that saw the Leathernecks shoot 8-9 from the field while limiting St. Thomas to 1-10 shooting. Fueled by this strong period of play, Western held a 45-26 advantage at the half.
 
"We were able to get the ball inside, get good post looks, walk them down where we wanted them. It was our post play that was the difference, there's no way around it," Boudreau said. "Out of the gate we established the post, got the ball inside on the first possession and got an easy score. We have a huge size advantage and we had to take advantage of that… when you're bigger and physically stronger you have to take advantage of it, and we did."
 
Western's strong offense continued into the second period of play, using another large run in the middle of the half to build a 75-41 lead and cruising to an 81-52 home victory. The Leathernecks move to 13-8 on the season and have now won four games in league play.
 
Trenton Massner led all scorers with 20 points (8-12 from the field, 2-5 from deep), grabbing eight rebounds while tying a season-high for assists with eight and finishing with two steals. Luka Barisic continued his strong run of play with 17 points and a season-high 12 rebounds, making 7-12 from the field and 2-4 from behind the arc. Will Carius and Colton Sandage both scored 12 points, and Tamell Pearson scored ten on 5-6 shooting. George Dixon scored four points and grabbed five rebounds (three offensive) off the Western Illinois bench, while Cameron Burrell grabbed four rebounds in ten minutes of action.
 
"It's all about rhythm and Luka was in a good rhythm," Boudreau said. "Tamell was in a really good rhythm, he was super efficient tonight and had a great game. He was good defensively too - we had him out on the perimeter switching and did a really nice job."
 
As a team the Leathernecks shot 55.9% from the field, making seven three-pointers and 8-10 at the line. WIU also controlled the glass, outrebounding St. Thomas 42-25 (eight to five offensive), scoring nine second-chance points and ten bench points. Western's size played a huge role in this game, outscoring St. Thomas 48-16 in the paint while limiting the Tommies to just 32.1% shooting from the field and 21.9% from deep. All 12 Leathernecks made an appearance in the game.
 
Western Illinois is back in action on Monday (Jan. 31), hosting Kansas City in a game that was originally scheduled for Jan. 6. Tip-off at Western Hall is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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