www.mcdonoughvoice.com ■ The Voice ■ Saturday, February 28, 2015 B3
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WIU finishes regular season at South Dakota WESTERN ILLINOIS MEDIA SERVICE
WHAT’S UP? The Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks close out the regular season on Saturday, February 28, as the Leathernecks take on South Dakota. The Leathernecks enter the final contest in a tie for third place in the Summit League standings with a 96 league record (17-11 overall) while South Dakota has claimed at least a share of the regular season title with a 12-3 record (22-6 overall). Tip-off between the Leathernecks and Coyotes is set for 1:30 p.m. inside the DakotaDome SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA: South Dakota enters Saturday’s contest guaranteed of at least a share of the regular season title of The Summit League as the Coyotes are 12-3 in league action (22-6 overall). USD is headlined by Raeshel Contreras and Nicole Seekamp as the average 15.6 and 14.3 points per game, respectively. SERIES HISTORY: Saturday will mark the 9th ever meeting between the two programs with USD holding a 7-1 advantage in the series. Western picked up its lone win in the series inside the DakotaDome last season, an 81-71 victory last season. On January 10 of this year, the two teams met for the first time this season with the Coyotes defeating Western by a 10187 final. Ashley Luke recorded a double double in the contest, tallying a season-high 34 points and adding 15 rebounds. Tori Niemann contributed 16 points while Michelle Maher and Sophie Reichelt each scored 11 points in the contest.
Western wraps 2014-15 regular season at Fort
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connected on a pair of free throws before a Yoho layup and a basket by Matt Inness pulled A-Town even at 22-22 with 3:35 remaining. And when Glisan scored on a layup with 2:57 to go, the Tornadoes had their first lead at 2422. That would be A-Town's final basket before it used 8-of-14 shooting from the free throw line to remain in the lead. South Fulton managed just a Tyler Engel layup and free throw in the final quarter as it shot just 1of-11 from the floor. “Our defense is what's won it for us all year. The second half, holding them to nine points was just outstanding,” said Jones. “We always talk about our defense giving us a chance. (This game) it really came
Wayne MACOMB, Ill. - The Fighting Leathernecks conclude the regular season Saturday (Feb. 28) when Western Illinois heads to Fort Wayne to face the Mastodons... The two teams are slated to tipoff at 6 p.m. CT. LEATHERNECKS VS. MASTODONS SERIES HISTORY: Fort Wayne leads the all-time series 127...The Leathernecks won the first-ever meeting 7463 on January 11, 1988...WIU then lost 10 of the next 11 meetings to IPFW, and found themselves trailing 10-2 in the series... Western, however, rattled off four consecutive victories before losing both of its games with the Mastodons last season... WIU won its meeting earlier this season against IPFW at home, 73-67... Western has won five of the last seven.
Western Illinois men’s golf in sixth after day one of Gary Freeman Spring Invitational DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Western Illinois men's golf team continued its spring season in Florida Friday by beginning action in the 2015 Gary Freeman Spring Invitational. The Fighting Leathernecks are in sixth place with a 649 after opening the invite with a 318 in round one and a 331 in round two. Nate Davis leads WIU with a 158 and sits tied for 14th overall. The senior captain finished both round one and round two with a 79. Sophomore Andrew Blackburn shot the team's best single-round score of the day when he fired a 75 during the opening 18 holes. He then hit an 86 in
through.” The opening half saw South Fulton grab control early, scoring the game's first 14 points. A-Town missed its first 13 shots and had eight turnovers as the Rebels raced out to the lead. The Tornadoes would close the half with a 6-2 run to inch within 16-6 at the half. “Our guys did a phenomenal job,” said Pokorny. “You put them out there in an atmosphere like that, it's going to be difficult. We knew it was going to be difficult.” “We went into the lockerroom and we felt like we were pretty fortunate to be down only 10 at that point,” said Jones. “As poorly as we played in the first half, we could've easily been down 20 or an unreachable amount.” Glisan topped A-Town with 12 points, while Lucas added eight and Yoho seven. The Tornadoes finished
round two and is tied for 20th-place individually with a 161. Sophomore Austin Von Alst and junior Alex Templin finished day one with two-round scores of 163 and 167, respectively. Von Alst, who is tied for 31st overall, tallied sores of 82 and 81, while Templin had rounds of 82 and 85, and sits tied for 41st overall. Junior Tanner Ludwig rounded out WIU's 'Top 5' finishing day one in 65th place with a 187 (90-97)
Stulga earns first career win as Leathernecks split BAY LAKE, Fla. – Western Illinois earned a split on the first day of action at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic. Follow a tough 7-0 loss to Miami (Ohio), Western ended the day with a 3-2 win against Columbia. GAME ONE: Western Illinois 0, Miami (Ohio) 7 Kayla Kirkpatrick retired the first nine batters she faced before allowing a leadoff single in the fourth. The RedHawks would later take a 1-0 lead in the fourth, but Kirkpatrick would keep the deficit at one. Kelsey Marlow and Sammy Marshall collected Western's only two hits through the first three innings, and both were left on the bases as the inning came to a close. GAME TWO: Western Illinois 3, Columbia 2 The Leathernecks were in a jam early, as Brooke Stulga struggled with her command. Making her second career start, Stulga back-to-back forced groundballs to limit the damage in the first. In the bottom half, Marshall led off with a single before stealing second. After a passed ball moved her to third, Teagan Walsh drove her in.
10-of-37 (27 percent) from the floor, including 2-of10 (20 percent) from 3point range. The Tornadoes finished with 14 turnovers, just four in the second half. Engel led South Fulton with 11 points, while Justin Batterton added eight. The Rebels shot 10-of-39 (25.6 percent) from the floor, including just 4-of-21 (19 percent) in the second half. South Fulton was 0-for-9 in 3-point attempts and finished with 10 turnovers. “I'm proud of them and I'm proud of their effort,” said Pokorny. “The chips just did not fall our way. The shots just did not fall at the end. That's that. We were just a few plays short of a regional championship.”
Reach Shelby Burget via email at sburget@McDonoughVoice.com, or follow him on Twitter @shelbyburget.
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Macomb’s Alec Drake goes up for a rebound during Friday night’s game.
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"That's a big three, but I have to give Coach (Brian) Langworthy credit for that, he called the play and we went with it," Bainter said. "Ty got a screen on the baseline and was open. He hit a big shot and we never looked back after that one." From there, as they did the entire second half, the Bomber clamped down on defense, holding the Titans to one shot and done. Macomb's defense was strong all night, but dominated in the second half, allowing 10 total West Hancock points. "In the second half, we picked up the intensity and slowly crawled our way back on top," Drake said.
"We got up three and kept adding on and playing good defense." The win sends Macomb to the Riverton Sectional, where the Bombers meet Pleasant Plains, a 49-39 winner over Pittsfield in the Auburn Regional final, on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Macomb beat Pleasant Plains in the second game of the year. "They're a great team, we played them in the Pittsfield Tournament," Drake said. "They have a great point guard and role players. "We'll celebrate (Friday) but (Saturday) we'll get back to it and hope for the best. Notes: Tickets for Macomb's Tuesday night sectional game in Riverton will go on sale Monday morning. From 7:30-8
a.m., parents of varsity basketball players and cheerleaders will be able to purchase tickets in the MHS Commons. From 8:15-11:30 a.m. in the MHS Athletic Office reserved seat season ticket holders will be able to purchase seats. From 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. in the MHS Athletic Office and MHS Commons, Macomb students and the general public will be able to purchase tickets. On Tuesday, from 7:30 a.m.-noon in the MHS Commons and MHS Athletic Office, the general public can purchase tickets.
Reach Scott Holland via email at sholland@McDonoughVoice.com or follow him on Twitter @hottscolland81.