Ft Wayne Times

Mastodons Ground Eagles in Cancun 74-67

Purdue Fort Wayne went 15-of-17 from the free throw line to earn a 74-67 victory over Eastern Michigan on Tuesday (Nov. 22) afternoon at the Cancun Challenge.

Eastern Michigan never held a lead after the 12:19 mark of the first half at 15-14. The Eagles erased an 11-point second half Mastodon lead to tie it at 54 with 7:46 left in the game. However, the 'Dons responded with a 7-2 run. Bobby Planutis was fouled attempting a three and made all three free throws to put the 'Dons up 57-54. Four points off the bench, a layup by Quinton Morton-Robertson and a dunk by Eric Mulder, made the score 61-56 at 5:31.

The Eagles cut the deficit to one possession five times in the final five minutes, but each time the 'Dons had an answer. Up 69-67 with a possession that started with 43 seconds left, the 'Dons put it away with a Damian Chong Qui 3-pointer with 17 seconds on the clock. A pair of Jarred Godfrey free throws made the final margin seven points.

Godfrey had game highs in points (21), rebounds (7), assists (5) and steals (5). He went 9-of-9 from the charity stripe.

Chong Qui and Morton-Robertson each added 13 points.

The 'Dons limited Eastern Michigan leading scorer Emoni Bates to a season-low 16 points. He entered the game shooting better than 50 percent from the floor. He shot just 6-of-15 against the 'Dons with three turnovers.

The win gives Jon Coffman his 142nd career coaching victory, tying Andy Piazza for most coaching wins in program history. Piazza went 142-109 from 1987 to 1996.

Purdue Fort Wayne improves to 3-2. Eastern Michigan is 1-4. 

The 'Dons will play the winner of Winthrop/Southern Miss at 3 p.m. on Wednesday (Nov. 23) for the Cancun Challenge Mayan Division Championship. 

Original source can be found here.