BOX SCORE

FINAL SCORE: Western Kentucky-67, Marathon Oil-60

RECORDS:
WKU — 0-0 Overall / 0-0 Sun Belt Conference (2-0 in exibition season)
Marathon Oil — 1-5 overall

PLAY-BY-PLAY HIGHLIGHTS:

First Half — WKU opened the scoring on a five-foot turnaround jumper from
Brian Allenspach at 19:10 ... The lead changed hands three times in the next
two-plus minutes with Marathon Oil’s Corky Ausborne giving the visitors their
biggest lead at 9-6 on a three-pointer from the top of the key with 16:44 left
... Chris Marcus put back a Filip Videnov three-point miss to give the Toppers
the lead for good at 11-9 at the 15:20 mark during a 7-0 WKU run ... The two
teams exchanged baskets until Tremain Rowles keyed another 7-0 run with a
three-pointer from the left wing, leaving WKU with its largest lead at 26-18
with 5:41 remaining ... Marathon’s John Taft scored on three consecutive trips
during a 7-2 run that closed the Western lead to 29-27 with 2:17 left ...
Videnov hit a three-pointer from the left corner to give the Hilltoppers a
34-27 lead before Ausborne answers with a trey from the right win with just
under a minute left to close the scoring in the half ... Toppers shoot 42.9%
from the field, but hit just 2-of-11 three-pointers ... Marathon goes 12-of-35
(34.3%) for the half.

Second Half — Western opens the half with a baseline jumper from Allenspach
at 19:33 to push the lead to 36-30 ... After several possessions, Derek
Robinson extends lead to five (41-36) with three-pointer from the right wing
... Jerald Reiner scored six of Marathon Oil’s next seven points with a pair
of threes to close to 45-43 with 13:25 left ... Both teams go scoreless for
just under four minutes until WKU’s Nate Williams ends the drought with a pair
of free throws at 9:46 to start a 10-0 Topper run that gives Westewrn its
first double-digit lead ... Lee Lampley scored the final five points of the
run with a three from the left corner and a 7-foot jumper in the lane giving
the Toppers a 55-43 advantage with 7:47 remaining ... Faron Hand helped
Marathon respond with seven consecutive points with a putback off his own miss
and a three-pointer from the top of the key to make the score 55-50 with 4:43
left ... Robinson scores the next five points during a 20-second stretch with
a three-pointer and layup off a steal after a Western timeout ... Marathon
gets as close as five points (64-59) after Taft makes two layups in 11 seconds
with 2:12 remaining ... Robsinson makes a 12-foot jumper with 1:18 left for
the game’s final basket — each team was 1-of-2 from the free-throw line in the
final minute.

COACHES' QUOTES:
WKU Head Coach Dennis Felton — “I was very happy with tonight’s performance
from the standpoint of improving from last week. ... We made a lot of headway
tonight. We were always in control of the game even though we missed some
shots we won’t normally miss. ... We held them to 29% shooting in the second
half with good, consistent defense. This is a team full of pros who know how
to score. They have guys who can score even when there is good defense. We
kept this team from doing what it’s used to doing. I was happy to see at the
end of the game that they were tired and we weren’t.”

Marathon Oil Head Coach Sam Foggin — “I think we pulled the trigger a
little too early. We tried to take too many three early. ... They played
excellent defense and closed out really well. ... The thing about this team
that really surprised me was their depth. Against Tennessee, they went 10
deep, but you could see a change in their substitutes. With these guys, you
really don’t see a change.”

NOTES – The Hilltoppers improve to 4-0 in exhibition play under Dennis Felton
and 27-3 overall since 1981 ... The 67 points were the fewest by the Toppers
in an exhibition since a 59-58 loss to the Turkish National Team in 1983 and
the second-lowest total ever.

NEXT GAME – WKU opens the regular season Saturday, Nov. 20 at Southern
Illinois at 7:05 p.m.