Courtesy: WIU Visual Productions Center Arsenio Mims recorded a pair of career-bests as he led in rebounding with eight and steals with four.

MACOMB, Ill.  -  Three Leathernecks registered points in double figures as Western Illinois defeated Truman State, 71-59, in its home opener at Western Hall, Wednesday.

“It was huge for us to get this win tonight,” Western Illinois head coach Jim Molinari said. “Our road trip was a really long one and coming back here I told them it was really important to get a win for our confidence. It was great to have our students here tonight and supporting us. Just to have them out here, for our guys to be able to look up and see our students here is an instant confidence boost for our team.”

A Tom Norton three with 1:14 remaining in the game cut the deficit down to seven for the Bulldogs (1-1) and, working to buy time, Truman State was forced to foul. Matt Lander and David Nurse each hit both free throws to keep the Fighting Leathernecks (1-2) ahead, 68-57. In under one minute, Western defended the three as Truman State missed all four attempts in its effort to make a comeback.

A James Granstra dunk opened the game sparking an 11-2 run over the first 3:11. A pair of treys sparked a run for Truman State, cutting the deficit down to four at 18-14 and again at 22-18, but Western pulled away to as many as 12 (35-23) in the first half. The Leathernecks entered the locker room with a 35-26 lead.

After back-to-back Truman State buckets opened the second half, Western responded with a 6-0 run that started with an Arsenio Mims jumper and was capped by a Jeremy Felton dunk. The Bulldogs put up a pair of layups when Felton interrupted the run with another dunk. The dunk was the start of eight-straight points from Felton over the next 2:40.

Quenton Kirby hit a three at the 9:31 mark to give Western its largest lead, 55-40. A trio of threes kept Truman State in the game, but as Western’s defense guarded the three, the attempt to comeback fell short.

Western’s field goal percentage was 41.9 percent (26-62) as Truman State’s was 35.8 percent (24-67). The Bulldogs took the advantage from three-point range making 8-of-24 (33.3%) to Western’s 2-of-13 (15.4%).

Kirby led Western’s scoring efforts with a career-high 18 points, while Nurse and Felton each scored in double figures with 15 and 12, respectively. Nurse remains perfect from the line as he is now 6-for-6 on the season.

“Quenton really stepped up for us as did Jeremy Felton,” Molinari explained. “Jeremy creates instant offense for us, he gave us a great lift in the second half. He’s a strong, exciting player but he’s still learning and picking up on our system.”

Mims led the Leathernecks off the board with a career-high eight rebounds. He also grabbed a career-best four steals.

“Arsenio is the type of guy who brings tremendous energy to our team,” Molinari said. “He does a good job of getting us extra possessions with his offensive rebounds. I have the utmost respect for him because he’s worked so hard to get where he is.”

Vesko Filchev led a pair of Truman State players in double digits with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Tom Norton had 17 points, making 5-of-13 three pointers.

The Leathernecks hit the road for a pair of games as they will face Central Arkansas at 7 p.m., Nov. 21 in Conway, Ark., before heading to Savannah State for a 7 p.m. tipoff in Savannah, Ga., Nov. 24.