MACOMB, Ill. - After opening the 2009-10 season on the road at Pac-10 Arizona State and Big XII Kansas State, the Fighting Leathernecks return home for the first of 15 home games against Truman State, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m., at Waste Management Court at Western Hall.

In the yearly results available, the Leathernecks have compiled a 51-15 home-opening record. Western has had the upper hand in the last five season-opening games with victories against Utah Valley State, 58-49, Harris Stowe, 110-55, Upper Iowa, 72-64, Waldorf, 76-56, and last season’s opener against Eureka, 75-57.

The Games
Who: Western Illinois vs. Truman State
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009
Tipoff: 7 p.m.
Location: Macomb, Ill.
Arena: Waste Management Court at Western Hall (5,139)
Live Stats (free)

The Leatherneck Sports Network Broadcast
Radio • WIUS (88.3 FM, Macomb) Flagship station
Kyle Schassburger, play by play
Derek Diesner, color analyst

Web • wiuathletics.com
Live WIUS radio broadcast (Free)

Watch LIVE on Rocky Vision (subscription)

The Series
Series Record vs. Truman State: 2009-10 is the first meeting

Game Notes (Complete PDF game notes)

Scouting the Bulldogs
Coming to Macomb from Kirksville, Mo., the Truman State Bulldogs are a NCAA Division II school in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic conference. Truman State won its season opener, 86-68, over Culver-Stockton (Mo.) this past Monday. The Fighting Leathernecks will face Culver-Stockton later this season (Dec. 9).

Truman took its largest lead of its opener by 31 points when freshman Tom Norton connected on one of his three, three-pointers of the night. Norton finished with 11 points, four assists and five rebounds. Mark Misiewicz led all Truman scorers with 16 points, including four treys of his own. Ethan Freeman added 11 along with Norton and Vesko Filchev who scored 10 points and led in rebounding with seven.

Western Illinois becomes the first Division I regular-season opponent Truman State will face this season.

Molinari enters second season
Jim Molinari enters his second season at the helm of the Fighting Leatherneck program, which returns three starters and six players from last year’s roster. The 2008-09 team went 9-20 overall with a 6-12 mark in The Summit League. This year’s squad adds eight newcomers.

Returning Three Starters
Similar to the Leathernecks, the Bulldogs also return three starters to this year’s roster. Last season, Truman State went 5-22 overall with a 1-19 record in the MIAA under 15th year head coach Jack Schrader.

First-Ever Meeting
Tonight’s game is the first-ever meeting between Western Illinois and Truman State as the Leathernecks enter the 106th season of the men’s basketball program.

Lander Puts Up the Points
Junior-transfer Matt Lander came to Western Illinois from John A. Logan Community College and didn’t waste any time putting up the points for the Leathernecks. Lander led all scorers in the past two games with a career-high 20 points at Arizona State. Helping fill the void of guard Ceola Clark, who was out with an injury in the last two games, Lander averages 17 points per game after having back-to-back games scoring in double figures.

Season Leader in Lander
After two games, Lander does not just lead in scoring average and points, but also leads the Leathernecks in assists (3.5 avg. per game), steals with four (2.0 per game), free throws made (6-of-7) and three-point field goals made with four (2.0 per game).

Pulling Down the Boards
The Leathernecks’ rebounding efforts are led by 6-foot-3 junior Arsenio Mims, averaging 4.0 rebounds per game with eight total this season. Mims assisted Western on the boards to a team offensive rebounding average of 13.5 a tie with Oral Roberts for the second-best average in The Summit League, just behind Oakland, who averages 19.0 offensive rebounds per game.

From the Line
One week into the regular season, Western Illinois has made 69% (20-of-29) of its free throws. Attempts from the line are led by Lander, who has made 6-of-7, and David Nurse, who is perfect from the line (2-of-2).

Around The Summit League
Tuesday night this week, IPFW hosts Madonna and UMKC hosts Lincoln University, while Centenary travels to Grambling State.

Tonight at 7 p.m., Oakland plays at Wisconsin, IUPUI plays at Eastern Illinois, Oral Roberts plays at Stanford, while North Dakota State hosts Minot State. The Oakland-Wisconsin game will air live on the Big Ten Network.