MACOMB, Ill.—Western Illinois hit 10 three-pointers in the first half, led 54-29 at halftime, and fought off South Dakota's second-half rally to earn a 90-76 win at Western Hall Saturday in the regular season finale for both teams.
Western Illinois ended a four-game skid and sent its seniors out with a win, but will see its season end with a 10-17 record and a 3-13 mark in Summit play. Garret Covington led five Leathernecks in double figures with 16 points. Jabari Sandifer and Mike Miklusak added 15 points each. Western Illinois avenged a 76-67 loss to South Dakota back on Jan. 20 in Vermillion.
South Dakota (14-17, 5-11 Summit) will be the No. 8 seed in the Summit League Tournament and will take on top-seeded Fort Wayne (23-8, 12-4) at 6 p.m. next Saturday at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. It will be a rematch of an opening round game from last season won by South Dakota 82-73. Fort Wayne won both meetings during the regular season this year.
The Coyotes placed five in double figures Saturday, but lost to Western for the first time in five games. Each of those four wins had come by at least nine points.
Tre Burnette came off the bench to lead South Dakota with 18 points.
Eric Robertson scored 13 points and
Tyler Flack added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Miklusak scored all but one of his 15 points in the first half on 5 of 6 shooting and four three-pointers. The Leathernecks were 10 of 16 from downtown in the opening stanza. Sandifer and Covington hit two triples each in the first half and combined for 17 points.
South Dakota went on a 19-0 run in the second half to cut the deficit to 67-61 with 9:30 remaining.
Casey Kasperbauer and
Logan Power capped the rally with back-to-back 3's. Kasperbauer finished with 10 points while Power scored six points and had five rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.
Western countered with a 12-2 run that included nine consecutive points. South Dakota scored the next eight points to make it 79-71 with 4:30 left. Flack made a free throw with 2:51 remaining that cut the deficit to 83-76 with 2:51 to go, but it was the final point for the Coyotes. Western Illinois scored the game's final seven points.
The Leathernecks finished 11 of 24 from three-point range while South Dakota was 6 of 18. The Coyotes shot 42 percent from the field, ending a string of three consecutive games in which South Dakota had made at least half its shots. Western Illinois shot 61 percent in the first half and 50 percent for the game.
