Western Illinois Moves Back Into First-Place Tie With 50-42 Win Over NDSU

MACOMB, Ill. - Ceola Clark scored 13 points to lead Western Illinois to a 50-42 win over North Dakota State in Summit League men's basketball Saturday, Jan. 19, before a crowd of 3,973 at Western Hall.

Remy Roberts-Burnett added 11 points for the Fighting Leathernecks, who improved to 15-4 overall and moved back into a tie with NDSU for first place in the league at 7-1.

Mike Felt scored 10 points, Marshall Bjorklund had nine points, and Lawrence Alexander added eight points, seven rebounds and four assists for North Dakota State, which fell to 16-4 overall.

The Bison, despite playing without starter Kory Brown for the first 26 minutes due to illness, held Western Illinois to four first-half field goals to take a 20-13 halftime lead.

NDSU's biggest lead was 24-15 with 16:25 left to play, but four straight turnovers fueled a 12-point run by Western Illinois and the Leathernecks never trailed after Clark's 3-pointer made it 27-24 with 12:16 to go.

Western Illinois outscored NDSU 21-4 at the foul line including 17-for-26 in the second half.  The Leathernecks made 10 of 12 from the stripe in the final 76 seconds of the game.

NDSU had a 34-26 advantage in total rebounds including 11 on the offensive end that led to 11 second-chance points.  Alexander and TrayVonn Wright had seven boards each.

North Dakota State plays South Dakota State at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, at Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D.  The game will be televised live on Midco Sports Network and Fox College Sports Pacific.