HAMMOND & WESTVILLE, Ind. – The Purdue University Northwest Men's Basketball team took victory at home against the visiting East West University Phantoms, closing with a final score of 82-62. With just over a minute left on the clock, senior No. 3 Chandler Spring threw up a 3-point shot, not only increasing the Pride's lead but also bringing home his 1,000^th career point with the Pride.

"It was great to get this at home and it's an honor to have been able to do this for PNW," said Spring. "I almost got completely drowned with water in the locker room with my teammates celebrating with me. Now we get to look ahead at Parkside and continue this streak. I can't wait to see what's next in this season."

Spring now sits with 1,002 career points for the Pride. So far in the 2019-20 season, Spring has shot 42% from behind the 3-point arc and brought home 60 points, 20 rebounds, five steals and 2 blocks.
The Pride came out slow in the first half, trailing behind the Phantoms for much of play. By halftime, PNW had shot 41% from the field, 25% from behind the 3-point arc and 75% from the free throw line. It was not until they returned to the court for the final twenty minutes of play that Purdue Northwest found their footing and surged ahead.

"Chandler gave us a great spark off the bench tonight, and it was a special moment to see him get 1,000 points in a win at home," said Head Coach Boomer Roberts. He's gone through a lot of adversity in his time here, but he's grown because of it and he certainly deserves the honor. The guys were hyped for him and I'm thankful to be his coach."

The Pride were led on the score sheet by Spring with 17 points, 1 rebound, two assists and one steal, shooting 5-11 from behind the arc. Close behind him was No. 32 Jyrus Freels with 14 points, eight rebounds and two assists; No. 2 Gregory Boyle with 11 points; and No. 24 Jordan Doss with 9 points. No. 10 Xavier Hallinan and No. 11 Franklin Nunn also collected 3 steals for the Pride.

"We didn't play very well in the first half, which led to a good conversation in the locker room led by Coach Brown," said Roberts. "We were much more aggressive in the second half, made the simple play offensively, and did a better job getting stops on the defensive end. We need to get more consistent in knowing who we are and bringing that to the table, but we'll take the win. Durante was leading us all game and Jyrus, Franklin and our lead guards were more like themselves in the second half."

The Pride will be back in action on Saturday, December 21 when they will hit the road to take on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. (CT).