San Jose, CA- The Western Illinois men's basketball team defeated San Jose State 59-55 on Monday night with big performances from newcomers Sean Smith and Marko Maletic. 

The first half started out slow for the Leathernecks as San Jose State jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. WIU would respond in a big way going on an 11-1 run to take the lead at 13-8 with 13:07 to go in the half. Rodrick Payne would have the first four points for WIU during the run as he hit two free throws and followed that with a dunk. Marko Maletic would hit a three and Trey Deveaux and Sean Smith would have back-to-back jumpers to finish the run. Smith would lead the way for the Leathernecks in the first half shooting 60% from the field with seven points, adding three rebounds and three assists. As a team, WIU shot 41.7% from the floor in the first half and trailed 29-25 at the break.

In the second half, WIU started on a 9-5 run. Tay Knox would get things rolling for the Leatherneck offense as he would hammer home a dunk to cut the deficit to 29-27. After two made free throws by the Spartans, Sean Smith and Trey Deveaux would again have back-to-back jumpers to even the score at 31-31. The Leathernecks would outscore the Spartans 34-26 in the second half holding San Jose State to 31.8% from the field in half number two. The defense would hold the Spartans to 34.8% from the floor for the game.  

Marko Maletic led the Leathernecks in scoring finishing with a team-high 13 points and adding 5 rebounds. Maletic's biggest shot of the night came late in the second half with the Leathernecks up four with 3:31 to go. Maletic would hit a three on a pass from Sean Smith to put the Leathernecks up seven by a score of 54-47. San Jose State would respond by going on an 8-2 run cutting the WIU lead to 56-55. The defense would get back-to-back stops late in the game as Sean Smith would get a steal with 15 seconds remaining. Maletic would knock down two huge free throws to extend the lead to 58-55. As a team, the Leathernecks shot 80% from the free throw line during the game.

On the next possession, San Jose State had a chance to tie the game with a corner three but the defense would hold strong and get the stop. Ryan Myers would add a free throw with 0.2 seconds remaining to give Western Illinois the victory by a score of 59-55. Myers finished the game with 11 points, adding two assists and two rebounds. 

WIU will now travel to Malibu, CA to take on Pepperdine on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.