OMAHA, NEB. – The Western Illinois University Fighting Leatherneck men’s basketball team played on Wednesday (Dec. 22), falling 84-78 to the Omaha Mavericks. The Leathernecks now move to 10-3 on the season and 1-1 in league play.
“Shots just didn’t fall, and that’s something that none of us on the staff get mad about. Yes, we missed shots and had shooters who missed some shots tonight, but that’s the game of basketball – some nights you’re there, some nights you’re not,” associate head coach Chad Boudreau said. “We couldn’t get stops and it’s been an issue for the last couple of games. We’ve won, but we’ve talked about how important getting stops would be and it caught up with us tonight.”
After the Mavericks opened up the game on a 12-3 run, Western responded with a 7-0 run of their own. Will Carius scored five points in the one-minute stretch, making all of his five free-throw attempts as Western brought the game to within two points. Omaha would respond, and the teams went back-and-forth throughout the rest of the first period – though UNO led 34-40 at the end of one half. In the second period of play Western continued to push, cutting the Omaha lead down to as little as four points on multiple occasions. However, the Mavericks had a counter to each figurative punch that Western threw, and the game ended in favor of Omaha.
Trenton Massner had another strong night scoring the ball, finishing with 26 points on 8-18 shooting, 4-9 from deep and 6-7 at the line. Will Carius also scored 20, making 9-9 from the line, while Colton Sandage scored 16. Tamell Pearson finished with a season-high 14 rebounds to go with seven points, building off what was a strong performance against Denver. George Dixon provided two points and four rebounds off the bench, and eclipsed the 1,000 rebound mark for his collegiate career.
“Right now I think we just need some time. We’ve had many ons and offs schedule wise, and we just need some time to reflect,” Boudreau said. “This is a good reality check – guys can go home and think about it over the break.”
The Leathernecks are back in action on Dec. 29, facing Iowa on the road. Tip-off at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.
***Recap and photo courtesy of WIU Athletics***
