David Nurse had 15 points and eight rebounds and Western Illinois rallied to beat North Carolina Central 53-50 on Tuesday night.
Western Illinois (9-13) trailed by 13 in the first half after shooting 4-for-20 from the field. The Leathernecks improved to 64.7 percent in the second half (11-for-17) to snap a two-game skid.
N.C. Central (4-20) led 33-20 with 12:46 left, then Western Illinois used a 16-2 run - capped by a Nurse 3-pointer - to pull ahead 36-35 with 7:34 to go. The Eagles briefly regained the lead, then Nurse hit another 3 to give the Leathernecks the lead for good.
N.C. Central pulled within 51-50 on two C.J. Wilkerson free throws with 11 seconds left, but Ceola Clark made two foul shots with 9 seconds to go. Michael Glasker missed two free throws for the Eagles with 4 seconds left.
Wilkerson led N.C. Central, which has lost five straight, with 20 points.
