By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Marko Maletic came to Western Illinois with a resumé of a scorer.

He’s found a home not just with his point production, but also with his defense.

The 6-foot-6 senior is back in the Leathernecks’ starting lineup and has become the reliable scoring option that coach Chad Boudreau figured he would be when he transferred after barely playing at Toledo last season.

Maletic leads the Leathernecks in scoring at 15.9 points per game. He currently is on a streak of four consecutive games of 20 points or more.

“Marco is starting to settle in,” Boudreau said. “Marco is guarding people, and I think he’s feeling the confidence we have in him in scoring.”

“It’s nothing I can put my finger on,” said Maletic of why he is playing well. “You put the reps in, the results show. It’s just a matter of time before the shots go in.”

Maletic’s career has been about scoring. He averaged 19.9 as a freshman at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, in 2020. A year later, he averaged 12.4 points at Laramie County (Wyoming) Community College, and he followed that by averaging 15.9 points at Long Island two seasons later.

But he only played seven games at Toledo last season, and entered the NCAA transfer portal looking for somewhere to play his final season of eligibility.

“I don’t know what went on there, but I do know he was a pretty good scorer at Long Island the year before,” Boudreau said. “And that’s what we brought him in here to do — space the floor, score and give other guys space to work as well.”

“It’s definitely a relief being here,” Maletic said. “(Assistant coach John) Clancy and Boudreau, you know, they recruited me very well, and I had others vouch for them as well. They won a lot of games last year. They set up a blueprint for me that I was gonna succeed. And, you know, the results are showing.”

Maletic started the season with 28 combined points in the Leathernecks’ two road games against San Jose State and Pepperdine, but struggled to score in two home games against Green Bay and Central Arkansas, when he was 6 of 16 from the field and scored a combined 14 points in those games.

Since then, he has shot 52 percent from the field in the last six games — all double-digit scoring games — and made 47 percent of his 3-pointers.

He has also become one of the team’s better defenders, ranking second on the team with seven steals.

“He’s doing a good job defending,” Boudreau said. “When he plays both ends, we’re not on him, we’re not pulling him out of games. He’s getting the time on the court and he can shoot and get into a rhythm, which is big because we need him to score.”

Maletic is back in the starting lineup, but he is just comfortable having a place to play.

“Whatever Coach thinks, that’s fine with me,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me whether I start or come off the bench. I’ll check my ego at the door. I don’t care. Whatever they need me to do to win, I’ll do it.”

Photo: Western Illinois’ Marko Maletic shoots over a defender in last Wednesday’s game against St. Ambrose. (Photo courtesy of WIU Athletic Communications)