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Western Illinois University Athletics

Massner
Rachael Keating
76
Omaha UNO 5-23,4-13 Summit League
88
Winner Western Ill. WIU 16-13,7-10 Summit League
Omaha UNO
5-23,4-13 Summit League
76
Final
88
Western Ill. WIU
16-13,7-10 Summit League
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Omaha UNO 36 40 76
Western Ill. WIU 38 50 88

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

Leathernecks Outlast Mavericks in Wire-to-Wire Victory

Five players scored in double figures, Leathernecks earn 16th victory of the season.

MACOMB, Ill. The Western Illinois University Fighting Leatherneck men's basketball team was in action on Thursday (Feb. 24), opening up the final weekend of regular season play with a home matchup against Omaha and winning 88-76. The Leathernecks move to 16-13 on the season and have one more home regular-season game before traveling to Sioux Falls for the Summit League Tournament.
 
"You have to win with a disciplined style and just be tough. No matter what league you're watching, no matter what game you're watching, it doesn't matter what the record is – it's going to be a battle," head coach Rob Jeter said. "I'm just proud of the guys because for the first time in a long time we've been able to get over one hump, and that's being able to officially say that we've had more wins than losses at the end of a season… I'm very proud of them."
 
Both teams traded buckets early, with Western taking an advantage mid-way through the first half after a 7-0 run built a 27-19 lead. Omaha responded with a 7-0 run of their own, but the Leathernecks held a two-point advantage going into the halftime break. After a back-and-forth opening eight minutes of play in the second half, fans in attendance got to watch a huge moment in the career of Will Carius. Off a pass from Colton Sandage, the graduate student raised up and splashed a three-pointer from the wing, officially surpassing 2,000 points scored in his six-year college basketball career.
 
"As Coach Jeter said, Will is someone that has played at all three levels and that's huge to see a guy that has been successful at all three levels," Luka Barisic said. "I'm very happy for him, it's great."
 
Carius' three-pointer also ignited a 13-4 Leatherneck run, where Western Illinois was able to turn a tied ballgame into a 60-51 lead with 10:38 to go. Soon after, Tamell Pearson went on a run of his own, scoring nine of the team's 11 points in a four-and-a-half-minute stretch during the game's final ten minutes. Western Illinois would finish the game on a 7-0 run composed entirely of free throws, winning 88-76.
 
Trenton Massner led all scorers with 20 points, finishing the game with eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block. Tamell Pearson finished the game with 18 points on 7-8 shooting, while Barisic paired 16 points with nine rebounds on 11-12 shooting from the line. Carius finished with 16 points and four rebounds, hitting 4-10 from deep and grabbing one steal, while George Dixon had another strong performance with 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block in 25 minutes off the Leatherneck bench.
 
"Coming into the year it was all those guys at the same time really coming together and playing well," Jeter said. "We're playing good, but it's choppy at times. If we can smooth that out, man it's going to be a fun finish to the season and we'll see what happens in March."
 
As a team Western Illinois shot 28-61 (45.9%) from the field, hitting six shots from deep and going 26-34 (76.4%) from the free-throw line. The team's effort on the glass showed up in the box score, outrebounding Omaha 40-31 and grabbing 15 offensive boards, which translated to 14 second-chance points and 42 points in the paint. Western's defense finished the game with 10 steals and doubled its season average for blocks, swatting five Maverick shots, as the team never trailed and held the lead for 36:08 of 40 minutes played.

Western Illinois is back in action on Saturday (Feb. 26), hosting Denver at Western Hall. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the seniors will be recognized prior to the game.
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