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WIU men vs. NDSU Vuk
Bradley Motton
60
North Dakota St. NDSU 3-10,0-1 Summit League
79
Winner Western Ill. WIU 8-4,1-0 Summit League
North Dakota St. NDSU
3-10,0-1 Summit League
60
Final
79
Western Ill. WIU
8-4,1-0 Summit League
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Dakota St. NDSU 29 31 60
Western Ill. WIU 35 44 79

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

Leathernecks extend win streak to six

WIU opens Summit play with 79-60 win over NDSU

MACOMB – Summit League Conference play officially began on Monday night, but the Western Illinois men looked like they have the previous few weeks, topping North Dakota State 79-60 inside Western Hall.
 
The victory was the sixth straight for the Leathernecks, who improved to 8-4 overall and 1-0 in league play. Western Illinois is next in action on Wednesday afternoon, hosting North Dakota at noon in Macomb. Due to the threat of blizzards, the game time was moved up to noon.
 
"They've (NDSU) been the class of the league for five-plus years, they're going to play their style," Western Illinois coach Rob Jeter said. "It (the scoreboard) says 19, but it was close in the second half. It was good to have it close then be able to put our foot down and finish, that's that I'm really proud of."
 
Western Illinois showed its might on Monday, leading the majority of the way, but never quite putting the Bison to bed until a late run turned a one-point WIU advantage (44-43) into the 19-point margin.
 
"I think the difference was sticking with our game plan," Trenton Massner (24 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals) said. "Making them make tough twos over us, they can't do it all game and eventually the big kid missed a few of those and we stacked up a couple stops in a row. Then he (Alec Rosner, 19 points) hit some big shots, everyone hit some big shots."
 
The big kid was NDSU's Grant Nelson, who was a one-man wrecking crew for the Bison. Nelson finished with 35 points and 16 boards, getting the majority of his points in the paint. But Nelson did not get much help from the perimeter as the Bison went 1-17 from three and only had one other player score in double figures.
 
"We had foul trouble and Nelson was in a zone, he's making shots, so our who strategy was that he can't make 75-80 percent of them and keep on everyone else," Jeter said. "But then that puts a lot of pressure on Jesiah (West, 14 points, seven rebounds) and Vuk (Stevanic, seven points, three rebounds) and the rest of our bigs. Guarding one-on-one post defense is the toughest to play and it went his (Nelson) way most of the night, but overall, it went our way."
 
Behind Massner and Roser on offense, the Leathernecks were able to get hot down the stretch and pull away. Western went 28-58 (48.3 percent) from the field for the game but 7-15 (46.7 percent) from three in the second half.
 
"They're big, they threw it inside all night, we had to keep taking the punches, then do what we had to do offensively, which was big for us," Rosner said.
 
The Leathernecks also received a boost from Elijah Farr, who came off the bench and provided some inside muscle, along with a little scoring, finishing with six points, including a key three-pointer that gave WIU an eight-point cushion, 55-47.
 
"That's awesome, he's really been tough on himself, I'm older, I say, 'stay the course, stay right, work a little harder, get a little luckier,' so we're working on his activity and working harder," Jeter said of Farr. "For kids, they want to see the ball in the hoop, so for him to see it, it will help him.
 
"We need threes from our bigs, teams aren't guarding them now, I feel like all our bigs can shoot, Elijah, Vuk, Jesiah, but they have to show it, so it going in is a good sign."
 
Quinlan Bennett added nine points for the Leathernecks, who have the advantage of being at home one final time before the holiday break.
 
"We have to get rest, there's the advantage to being home, we can go to bed early, eat early, get up and do our thing and not have to worry about that travel day," Jeter said. "We have to take advantage of that."
 
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