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March 8, 2008 on 9:50 pm | In Athletics |

MACOMB, Ill. - David Jackson scored a team-high 16 points, but could not silence a strong shooting night for Oakland as Western Illinois fell, 85-71, snapping a five-game home court winning streak.

The Golden Grizzlies (10-10, 5-4 Summit) set the tone from the opening tip as Keith Benson threw down a dunk :06 into the game. After another Oakland basket, David Jackson put the Leathernecks (9-11, 4-5 Summit) on the board with a three-pointer to make it a 4-3 contest. Oakland rattled off a 16-3 run over the next 4:07 to build its lead to 14 points. Western cut the deficit back to single digits on a three-point play by James Washington with 8:22 left in the first half, making it a 29-21 score. The Golden Grizzlies built another double-figure lead, only to see the Leathernecks cut it back down to as few as six after a Jackson layup that made it 32-26. Oakland was able to get up by as many as 12, but Western headed into halftime down by only six after Chris Gonzalez connected on a three-pointer at the buzzer.

“We thought coming in that we would be a little better defensively, but (Oakland head coach Greg Kampe) did a great job mixing up by going to zone,” said Western Illinois head coach Derek Thomas. “I thought we did a decent job against it.”

David Nurse connected on a three-pointer on Western’s first possession of the second half to make it a three-point game, but Oakland answered with a Derick Nelson three ball on its first possession. A Jerryck Owens-Murrey layup brought the Leathernecks within four points, the first of four times they cut the score to that difference in the next 5:59 of the game. Three of those four times, the Golden Grizzlies answered with a three-pointer. After the final time, the score never came closer than seven points.

“At times we just had no answers for some of their guy,” added Thomas. “But we knew coming in here tonight that they were a very good team. They were missing some guys in the games they’ve lost and they had them back tonight and that made a difference.”

Western shot the ball well going 46 percent (27-of-59) from the floor and 47 percent (7-of-15) from beyond the arc. However, Oakland shot an even stronger 69 percent (29-42) from the field and 80 percent (8-of-10) on three-pointers. The Golden Grizzlies (68 percent, 19-of-28) also hit nine more free throws than the Leathernecks (50 percent, 10-of-20) in the contest.

“I thought we scored enough points tonight to win a game,” said Thomas of the offensive effort, “but that’s not the problem. We didn’t get enough stops and when you go 10-for-20 from the free throw line you can’t expect to win. You can’t spot a team double-digit leads in both halves. Coming back takes so much energy out of you, especially against a big and physical team. We had them right where we needed them to take the lead, but a few turnovers hurt us and it just took the air out of us.”

Louis Johnson recorded season-high totals in points with 12, and rebounds with six. Nurse chipped in 11 points and David DuBois added 10 for Western. Derick Nelson scored a game-high 18 points, to pace five Golden Grizzlies in double figures.

The Leathernecks managed to force three more turnovers (15-12) in the game, but Oakland dished out 10 more assists (24-14). On a strong shooting night, the Golden Grizzlies barely won a low-total battle on the glass, 28-27.

“I told the guys that they showed some heart tonight. We had enough passion to keep fighting even when we got down but kept fighting and played hard.”

Western plays game three of its four-game home stand January 31, at 7 p.m., as UMKC comes to Macomb.

Originaly from Source