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Western Illinois University Athletics

WILL
Richard Carlson/Inertia
68
Western Ill. WIU 16-15,7-11 Summit League
80
Winner Oral Roberts ORU 19-11,12-6 Summit League
Western Ill. WIU
16-15,7-11 Summit League
68
Final
80
Oral Roberts ORU
19-11,12-6 Summit League
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western Ill. WIU 31 37 68
Oral Roberts ORU 43 37 80

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

Leathernecks Fall in Sioux Falls

Trenton Massner’s 28 not enough as Golden Eagles advance to the tournament's semifinal round.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Western Illinois University Fighting Leatherneck men's basketball team played on Sunday (March 6), falling 68-80 to the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts. Sunday's game was the quarterfinal round of the Summit League Tournament, and the result sees Oral Roberts move on to the semifinal round.
 
"I'm trying to make light of this because this group has done a lot, accomplished a lot, and I'm really proud of them," head coach Rob Jeter said. "We battled through some tough times; I thought we started our year very well and then we kind of figured out what conference basketball is all about. It's about being tougher, more disciplined and staying together, and the guys did that – they stayed together. We've learned some lessons and we'll be better for it, but for the little milestones that this team has accomplished I think we need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and celebrate those."
 
ORU took an early lead after dominating the offensive glass in the opening minutes and held a lead as large as seven in the opening five minutes of action. Tamell Pearson then started to find a rhythm from the mid-range, combining with Trenton Massner to score the next 14 Leatherneck points as Western's defense struggled to contain an Oral Roberts offense that ranked second in the Summit League in scoring this year. At the half, Western Illinois trailed 31-43.
 
"It's never good to get down big against a team of this caliber because you spend so much time making a comeback and then it's hard because they won't give anything up easy," Massner said after the game. "We just have to learn from that and can't get down in games like this."
 
The Leathernecks opened the second half on a 10-2 run to bring the game to within five points, and back-to-back Massner jumpers would cut the deficit down to just two points with 13:35 remaining in the period. ORU went on a mini-run of their own, but back-to-back threes from Colton Sandage kept Western within five while firing up the Leatherneck bench. Western brought the game to within three points with 6:34 remaining in the game after four-straight points in the paint by Trenton Massner, but ORU would hold on and make their free throws down the stretch and win 80-68.
 
Massner led the team in scoring with 28 points, also finishing the game with four rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. Tamell Pearson finished with 14 points and four rebounds, while Colton Sandage finished with 11 points, six rebounds, two assists two steals and one block. Luka Barisic had six points and seven rebounds, and Cameron Burrell finished with four points and five rebounds in just over 17 minutes of action off the Leatherneck bench. The Leathernecks as a team shot 26-61 (42.6%) from the field, hitting nine shots from deep and and seven from the line. Western finished with 32 rebounds (seven offensive), while scoring 10 second-chance points and 28 in the paint. Western's defense finished with five steals and three blocks and scored eight points off of eight ORU turnovers.
 
"We found a way to still have fun, we found a way to still come to practice every day and lace them up, try to get better, and I think that's a testament to the guys that we have in the locker room. It wasn't pretty at times but they showed up and worked this season," Jeter said. "Through it all we were competitive, and I know we have a bunch of guys in the locker room that were disappointed tonight and that's a great sign. It's not just about moving on, they were disappointed and felt like we could have done better which is something to build off."
 
 
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