Javon Freeman-Liberty scored a career-high 33 points Saturday night and DePaul used an 18-2 run late to post an 84-80 nonconference win over Western Illinois in Chicago.
The Leathernecks (3-1) led 61-57 with 8:37 left after Trenton Massner dunked, but their offense ground to a halt for a seven-minute stretch while the Blue Demons (4-0) surged. Freeman-Liberty rattled off eight straight points in 71 seconds, canning consecutive 3-pointers to give them a 65-61 lead with 5:42 left.
After Nick Ongenda contributed a jump hook, Freeman-Liberty scored DePaul’s next eight points to increase the lead to 75-63 with 1:39 remaining. Freeman-Liberty sealed the outcome with a foul shot with 6.6 seconds left that upped the margin to two possessions.
Three other players scored in double figures for the Blue Demons. Ongenda and Brandon Johnson each added 15 points, while David Jones chipped in 12 points.
Four players reached double figures for Western Illinois, led by Luka Barisic with 21 points. Colton Sandage, Massner and Will Carius added 16 apiece.
The biggest difference between the teams came at the foul line. The Leathernecks got to the stripe just 13 times, hitting nine. DePaul marched to the line 32 times, making 25.
The teams worked their way through a tight first half, neither one leading by more than the 12-8 advantage DePaul boasted after two foul shots by Jones at the 14:15 mark.
Western Illinois quickly erased that lead, tying the score at 14 after Barisic canned a 3-pointer with 12:54 left. That was one of eight ties in the half. Another occurred just over a minute later when Carius hit a jumper to pull the Leathernecks even again at 16.
The lead continued to ping-pong back and forth for the half’s remainder. Ongenda’s putback gave the Blue Demons a 28-25 advantage with 4:23 remaining, but Western Illinois fought back for a 36-34 edge on a Massner stickback.
But Freeman-Liberty had the last say, driving for a layup just before time expired and lifting DePaul into a 36-36 deadlock at halftime.
–Field Level Media
