GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The Western Illinois men’s basketball team led North Dakota for 36 minutes but didn’t walk away with the decision in an 83-81 final.
The Fighting Hawks used a 15-0 run late in the game to turn the corner.
“Our outside shooting from behind the arc puts us at a bigger disadvantage than we need to be. If we could just stretch [our opponents] a little bit and make a couple of those, it’s just a whole different ballgame.” – head coach Rob Jeter (Jan. 22)
In the words of the great Michael Jordan, Will Carius “took that personally.” First half action saw Western shoot 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from behind the arc, and the graduate transfer was perfection. He didn’t miss his first six shots — his first six triples — and concluded the half with a new season-high in points.
With 3:41 to go, Carius held more points (20) than the entire UND roster combined (18), and Western went into the half up by a dozen.
Stretching the floor wasn’t an issue for the Leathernecks Friday night (Jan. 29), they needed to finish inside the paint.
“We have to finish at the rim and finish a little more tougher. We missed a ton of two-footers in front of the rim,” added Jeter.
The Hawks didn’t have an answer for Carius in the first period, and Colton Sandage gave them the blues in the second. Twenty-five of the Leathernecks’ second-half points (40) were scored by their hands, including the last nine of the night.
“We’re trying to simplify the game for [Will],” said Jeter. “Nothing too fancy, and it’s good to see him stick with it. He played well. The same for Colton. It’s been a roller coaster ride for him, but he’s making shots and playing well.”
The score sat tied at 80-all with 28 seconds remaining.
“We needed to put it together for 40 minutes. Giving up 50 points is way too many. It’s going to happen. We’re going to get there.”
Carius’ 34-point performance tied for eighth-most in Western history. He shot 8-for-12 from the floor, 6-for-7 from three, with 12 made free-throws. Sandage added 18 points to finish in double-figures in back-to-back games, and Ramean Hinton recorded 10 points and seven rebounds.
***Recap courtesy of WIU Athletics***
