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Leathernecks resume Summit League play with road games at Southern Utah, UMKC

January 26, 2008 on 10:05 pm | In Athletics |

MACOMB, Ill. - Summit League play gets into full swing this week with a pair of road games for the Leathernecks, who visit Southern Utah, Thursday, and UMKC, Saturday. Western Illinois opened the league schedule in December with a home loss to league-favorite IUPUI.
The Leathernecks will face two coaches this week new to the Summit League as Southern Utah’s Roger Reid and UMKC’s Matt Brown are in their first seasons at their respective schools. Southern Utah and Western Illinois split last year’s series, each team winning at home, while UMKC swept Western, but needed a double-overtime win in Kansas City to do so.

Western Illinois Leathernecks (5-7) at Southern Utah (3-10, 1-1)
Thursday, January 3, 2008 Cedar City, Utah
Tip-off: 8 p.m. CST
Arena: The Centrum
Web: Summit League video Live video
Radio: Western Sports Network (Michael Jones-play by play; Arlen Britton-color analyst) Live audio
Series: Southern Utah leads 14-8

Western Illinois Leathernecks at UMKC (5-9, 0-2)
Saturday, January 5, 2008 Kansas City, Mo.
Tip-off: 7:05 p.m. CST
Arena: Municipal Auditorium
Web: Summit League video Live video
Radio: Western Sports Network (Michael Jones-play by play; Arlen Britton-color analyst) Live audio
Live Stats: www.wiuathletics.com
Series: UMKC leads 24-11

Game Notes
Back-to-Back Home Wins
The Leathernecks are coming off of back-to-back home victories, having defeated Kennesaw State and Culver-Stockton in the last two weeks to improve to 4-2 at home. They have won three of their last five games overall, falling at home to IUPUI and on the road to #8 UCLA.

Jackson Moving Up Career Scoring Charts
Senior David Jackson became Western Illinois’ 17th member of the 1,000-point club last season, and is working his way up the career scoring charts.
His 139 points this year give him a career total of 1,172, which ranks 15th in school history.
12. 1,219 Dan Braun 1967-70 13. 1,212 Bill McAfoos 1956-60
14. 1,186 Gene Talbot 1953-56
15. 1,172 David Jackson 2004-pr.
Jackson needs 177 points to surpass Garrick Vicks (1993-96) as the school’s Division I points leader.

Last Time Out - vs. Culver-Stockton
Jerryck Owens-Murrey recorded his second straight double-double and David DuBois scored a game-high 20 points as Western defeated Culver-Stockton, 85-56, last Sunday. The Leathernecks scored the first 10 points of the game and jumped out to a 14-2 lead. The Wildcats came within three midway through the period, but Western quickly stretched its lead back to double-digits.
The Leathernecks tallied a season-high rebounding margin of +14 and gave their substitutes a lot of minutes as the bench outscored Culver-Stockton’s bench 36-8.

Granstra Comes Off Bench for Career Highs
True freshman James Granstra played 13 minutes off the bench last Sunday and recorded career highs of six points and eight rebounds against the Wildcats. Four of his points came from a perfect performance at the free throw line.
Granstra started the first seven games of the season, and has appeared in 10 of the team’s 12 games.

Washington Matches Personal Best of 17 Pts.
Shooting 4-of-6 from long range against Culver-Stockton, James Washington scored 17 points off the bench last Sunday, equalling a personal best recorded in the season opener. Washington shot 6-of-8 from the floor and 1-of-2 from the line, while contributing to the Leathernecks’ season-high 24 three-point attempts.

Owens-Murrey Has Second Double-Double
Jerryck Owens-Murrey has provided the Leathernecks with back-to-back double-doubles, most recently scoring 10 points and grabbing a career-best 11 rebounds against Culver-Stockton. He has scored in double-figures in five straight games, and has averaged 11.5 points and 10.5 rebounds over the last two outings.

Rebounding Edge Equals Victory
The Leathernecks have outrebounded five opponents this year, and all five games have resulted in Leatherneck victories. They have recorded three double-digit rebounding advantages, most recently outrebounding Culver-Stockton by a season-high 14 boards. At UCLA, they matched the Bruins’ 30 rebounds.

Thomas’ Father Goes 1-2 as Interim Falcons Coach
Coach Thomas’ father, Emmitt, was named interim head coach of the Atlanta Falcons Dec. 12 and coached the team to a 1-2 record over the last three games of the season. Thomas played 13 seasons in the NFL as a standout defensive back with the Kansas City Chiefs (1966-78), and is a finalist for induction into the Hall of Fame Class of 2008. He replaced Bobby Petrino who left for Arkansas - Western Illinois’ first opponent in 2008.

Originaly from Source