WIU Men's Basketball History: Leathernecks Travel to Idaho (11/9/13)

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beauspencer
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri May 16, 2014 1:24 pm

November 9. The earliest date WIU men's basketball has played a regular season game. The 2013-14 season marked the second time the Leathernecks played on November 9.

The 2013-14 season opened with a road trip to Moscow, Idaho. Western Illinois’ travels took them to Peoria for a flight to Denver, Colorado, where the team caught a connecting flight to Spokane, Washington. Once in Peoria, the team stopped at Golden Corral for dinner. Waiting in line, two women standing behind began speaking with coach Jim Molinari. One of the women remarked, "You look familiar. Have I seen you on TV?" Coach Molinari proudly responded, "I used to coach Bradley." Without pause the woman says, "Oh yeah. Didn't you get fired?"

Once in Washington, the Leathernecks made a one hour drive east to Moscow for a practice at the University of Idaho. Lewiston, Idaho, about 30 miles to the east of Moscow was where the squad would spend the night.

Lewiston is the home to Lewis and Clark College. Former Leatherneck graduate assistant Austin Johnson is an assistant there, and the Leathernecks utilized their gym for a practice on game day.

Due to an Idaho Vandals football game inside the Kibbe Dome, also home to the basketball team, the game was played inside historic Memorial Gymnasium. Built in 1928, the arena seats just 2,500 fans and features a brick interior with balconies that hang over the benches.

Freshman Garret Covington dropped a game-high 22 points in his college basketball debut. The Edwardsville, Illinois native also finished with three steals, two rebounds, one assist, and one block. Covington led his high school team to a third place finish in the IHSA Class 4A finals in March, 2013. In July, he was named MVP of the IBCA Class 3A/4A All-Star Game.

Western found themselves down, 40-30, in the second half after the Vandals opened the period on a 13-4 run. The Leathernecks bounced back and went on an 18-4 run and led, 59-56. A Connor Hill 3-pointer gave Idaho a 61-59 lead that they would not relinquish.

Here is what the itinerary for the Idaho trip looked...

Thursday, November 7, 2013

6:30 p.m. Depart for Peoria (Burlington Stage Lines)

8:00 p.m. Dinner (Golden Corral)

9:00 p.m. Hotel Check in

11 p.m. Lights out

Friday, November 8, 2013

6:30 a.m. Depart hotel

6:45 a.m. Arrive at Peoria airport

8:01 a.m. United flight #6006 (PIA)

9:37 a.m. Arrive in Denver (Breakfast)

11:32 a.m. United flight #1060 (DEN)

12:57 p.m. Arrive in Spokane (GEG) Lunch on bus – Subway: 4100 Cheney Spokane Rd (Alpha Omega)

4:30 p.m. Practice at Idaho

7:30 p.m. Hotel Check in (Red Lion Hotel, Lewiston)

8:00 p.m. Dinner (hotel)

11:00 p.m. Lights Out

Saturday, November 9, 2013

10:00 a.m. Breakfast (hotel)

3:00 p.m. Pregame meal (hotel)

7:00 p.m. Beat the Vandals (Enrollment: 12,493)

9:30 p.m. Depart for Spokane (Dinner on bus: Winger’s)

11:00 p.m. Hotel Check in (Double Tree, Spokane)

Sunday, November 10, 2013

6:30 a.m. Breakfast (hotel)

7:00 a.m. Depart for airport

7:15 a.m. Arrive in Spokane airport

8:30 a.m. Alaska Airlines #2369 (GEG)

9:38 a.m. Arrive in Seattle

10:40 a.m. Alaska Airlines #3468 (SEA)

3:45 p.m. Arrive in Omaha, NE (OMA)

Burlington Stage Lines (Lunch on bus: Jason’s Deli)

6:30 p.m. Practice at Hendricks Training Complex

8:30 p.m. Hotel Check-in

9 p.m. Dinner (hotel)

11 p.m. Lights Out
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sealhall74
Posts: 5770
Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2014 1:18 pm
Location: Wherever, Windblows

So Beau, what is going to happen first? 1) You buy a Public Storage facility to store all of your sports cards and memorabilia or 2 ) you publish your anthology of WIU basketball
Embrace the pace of the race.
beauspencer
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri May 16, 2014 1:24 pm

Hah! I really do need to get my work published. I did print an unedited rough draft and gave it to sports information. Now I just need to finish it up, and edit. So that will come first.
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