By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Nowhere on Western Illinois’ travel itinerary does it say anything about going home.

The Leathernecks are content to stay where they’re at until the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament is concluded.

Ryan Myers made sure they stuck to that plan in Thursday’s quarterfinal, as his shot with 2.8 seconds gave Western Illinois a 61-59 win over Tennessee State.

The Leathernecks (21-11), the fourth seed in the tournament, will play top seed Little Rock in Friday’s 7 p.m. semifinal at the Ford Center.

It was the first win for Western Illinois in a conference tournament since the 2019 team upset top seed South Dakota State in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament.

In a season in which the Leathernecks are setting all sorts of milestones, adding one to that list was fine.

There is a bigger one, of course — no Western Illinois men’s team has been to the NCAA Tournament since the program began Division I play in the 1981-82 season. This team is two steps away from winning the conference tournament and the OVC’s automatic bid.

“It’s a big win for us, especially for the program,” said guard Quinlan Bennett, who led Western lllinois with 18 points while adding 10 rebounds. “For the players, it’s big. But we’ve got two more to win. That’s the main focus.”

This win wasn’t artistic — the Leathernecks missed 13 free throws and committed 19 turnovers.

It didn’t really matter.

The Leathernecks are used to close games all season — 11 of its wins against OVC teams are by single digits. It’s allowed them to post the most wins for the program since the 2012-13 team won 22.

It’s all about maturity, coach Chad Boudreau said. Bennett is a fifth-year senior. JJ Kalakon, who had 12 points, is a senior. Drew Cisse, who had 12 rebounds, is a fifth-year senior. Jesiah West, with 12 points and nine rebounds, is a senior. Myers, who had 12 points, is a fourth-year junior who played one season at Iona.

“It’s back to the leadership thing,” Boudreau said. “It’s older guys. When you have played as many games as these guys have played, they don’t get rattled.”

The Leathernecks weren’t shaken when they made just five of their first 19 shots and committed eight turnovers in falling behind 19-11 early. They shrugged off a stretch of almost seven minutes without a field goal that turned a 42-34 lead into a 51-48 deficit.

And at the end, when Tennessee State’s Kinyon Hodges made the second of two free throws with 17 seconds left, Boudreau didn’t call a timeout, letting the Leathernecks go with the play call they had planned.

“I want to play the game,” Boudreau said.

The play was called “Zoom 5.” Myers brought the ball to the top of the 3-point arc and curled left, finding a path to the basket.

“I’m just embracing being here, and I confidently went down and made a play,” said Myers, who transferred to Western Illinois from Indian Hills Community College.

“‘Zoom 5’ was looking to space the floor,” Boudreau said. “We got the spacing, and then he attacked, which was a great play. He put it on the rim at the right time, and we had Jesiah West and Drew Cisse coming in at the offensive rebound, so the timing was good.

“We practice that stuff every day, and these guys did a great job of executing it. I don’t have to use a timeout in that situation, where we can let them play and not let the defense get set up.”

Boudreau did burn a timeout 11 minutes into the game after the early struggles, then the Leathernecks went on a 15-2 run. He then let them play through their field-goal drought in the second half, and his team responded again.

“Even in the shoot-around, we were telling each other, ‘If anything happens, just stick together,’” Bennett said. “And that’s what we did.

“And that’s what helped us win again.”

Photo: Ryan Myers puts up the game-winning shot as Western Illinois defeated Tennessee State 61-59. (Photo courtesy of the Ohio Valley Conference)