By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

MACOMB, Ill. — The score didn’t matter as much to Western Illinois men’s basketball coach Chad Boudreau as much as the numbers behind it.

The Leathernecks’ 92-40 win over Hannibal-LaGrange on Thursday night went about as expected, but what Boudreau liked was getting some players involved who had been struggling so far this season.

That, he said, is going to be important with Ohio Valley Conference play looming at the end of December.

“It was a good game to get some people some confidence, because we need more out of our bench,” Boudreau said. “We needed more efficiency out of our bench.”

The Leathernecks (3-5) got 58 bench points. Shay Davis, who came into the game 23 points all season, led Western Illinois with 22 points. JJ Kalakon, who had 12 points all season, scored 12 in this game. Joe Petrakis, who had seven points all season, scored eight.

“Shay, it was good to see him get some shots and get going,” Boudreau said. “Joe made some shots and got going. JJ has a role if he plays the role. Tonight he played the role.”

“Rhythm is a huge thing in all sports, especially basketball,” Petrakis said. “For me, being a shooter, when you fall out of rhythm, it’s hard to get back in. So tonight, I knocked a couple down, saw (the ball) go through. Shay saw a couple go through. Our offense took off, and hopefully that can carry over.”

“Everybody wants to hit shots,” Davis said. “With this team, anybody can have a good night. So it’s just good to get back in a rhythm.”

The Leathernecks just completed a three-game road trip against Valparaiso from the Missouri Valley Conference and Illinois and Wisconsin from the Big Ten. They lost all three games.

Thursday’s game starts a six-game stretch in which Western Illinois plays four games at home.

All of the Leathernecks’ losses, including the season opener at UTSA and the game against SMU two days later, have been on the road.

“The schedule, I did it, so it’s on me,” Boudreau said. “We’ve played a lot of opponents that aren’t like us. The five road games, we’re playing teams that are huge, every one of them is athletic up front, and we’re not going to see a ton of that throughout the year. The schedule has been a yo-yo, which, again, it’s on me.”

“It’s definitely a good reset for us,” Petrakis said. “We’ve played some tough opponents, we’ve been on the road for a long time. To get back home, to get a win, it’s good for anybody.”

“It was a chance to get back on track with the things we’ve been practicing,” Davis said. “We kind of got away from it, playing bigger teams.”

That’s why Boudreau didn’t want his players to be too concerned about their shooting percentages or scoring averages at this point in the season. 

“We talked before the game — your averages will play out,” he said. 

James Dent Jr., the Leathernecks’ leading scorer this season at 17.3 points per game, added 15.

The schedule for December looks more like what the Leathernecks will see in OVC play. They play host to former Summit League rival South Dakota on Sunday, and have road games against Green Bay and Central Arkansas later in the month.

“We’ve got to string together some wins going into January,” Boudreau said. “We put ourselves in a corner. But I think it will help us out later.”

Photo: Western Illinois’ Quinlan Bennett (right) defends Hannibal-LaGrange’s Janssen Flotow in the second half.