Jackrabbits struggle in a loss at Western Illinois

Thursday, January 10

Macomb, Ill.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Western Illinois

1/10/2008 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

MACOMB, Ill. ? South Dakota State went into Thursday's game at Western Illinois looking for their second straight Summit League win, but the Leathernecks quickly put an end to those hopes in beating the Jackrabbits 75-52, in front of a sparse 406 fans at Western Hall in Macomb, Ill.

The loss drops the Jacks to 6-10 overall and 1-4 in league play, while the Leathernecks improve to 7-8 overall and an even 2-2 in The Summit League.

Garrett Callahan led the cold shooting Jackrabbits with 12 points, Dale Moss added a career-high ten points, as did Kai Williams.

David Jackson led three Leathernecks in double-figures with a game-high 23 points, James Washington finished with 15 and Jerryck Owens-Murrey added ten.

The game started close, with the teams trading baskets early, which led to three tie scores in the first seven minutes of the game, until WIU broke a 6-6 tie with 12:27 left in the first half.

Western would increase that lead to as many as 11 points before finally taking a nine-point, 28-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Jacks held the Leathernecks to 36.7 percent from the floor in the first half on 11-of-30 shooting, but the Jacks could only muster a 27 percent performance from the floor on 7-of-26 shooting.

Even though the Jacks improved their shooting percentage to 48 percent in the second half on 13-of-27 shooting, Western continued to pull away and made nine free throws and three lay-ups over the last 7:30 to secure the 23-point win.

Like the Jacks, WIU improved their shooting percentage in the second half to 51.7 percent on 15-of-29 shooting.

The Leathernecks also capitalized on their free throw attempts, cashing in on 19 of their 20 attempts at the charity stripe, a total of 95 percent.

The Jacks, fresh off a school record 14-for-14 night at the free throw line against IPFW, went 9-of-14 from the line (64 percent) despite only being whistled for two more fouls (18-16) than WIU.

WIU also out rebounded the Jackrabbits 38-30, and committed three less turnovers, 13-10.

The Jackrabbits return to action on Saturday, when they take on The Summit League's preseason favorite IUPUI in Indianapolis, Ind.