By Austin Duncan
NORMAL, Ill- The Illinois State Redbirds men’s basketball team trailed by as many as eight points in the second half, rallying to defeat Murray State 63-61 at Redbird Arena.
Murray State used a quick start including a three from Jeffery Moss to open an early 7-1 lead over the Redbirds early in the first half.
Sophomore forward Deontae Hawkins collected ISU’s first field goal of the game at the 16:14 mark of the first half, cutting the Murray State lead to 7-4.
ISU freshman guard Roland Griffin stole the ball from Murray State’s Brion Sanchious, and took it coast to coast to tie the game at 9-9. Griffin propelled ISU to its first lead of the game at 14-13, hitting a three with 9:35 to play in the half.
It was short lived as Murray State’s went on an 11-5 run sparked by a Chad Culbreath layup.
Momentum shifted as Redbird senior guard Justin McCloud hit a three, and junior guard Tony Wills found senior guard Devaughn Akoon-Purcell for an alley-oop to cut the Racer’s lead to 24-21. Wills quickly added another basket cutting the defect to one.
Murray State and Illinois State traded three point baskets from Justin Seymour and senior Nick Banyard respectively, with under a minute to play in the half. Murray State’s Bryce Jones hit a jumper with seven seconds remaining in the half to give the Racers a 31-26 halftime lead.
Out of the locker room, the Racers captured its largest lead of the game on a three point make by Moss early in the second half.
The Redbirds would not shy away as it went on a 13-2 run that included another alley-oop from Akoon-Purcell. The run was capped by a three pointer from Banyard, and a layup from sophomore forward Mikyle McIntosh to give the ‘Birds a 41-38 lead at the 14:37 mark of the second half.
Both teams proceeded to go on a scoring drought collectively shooting 1-11 over a three minute stretch.
The Redbirds stretched its lead to four after a hook shot by Hawkins with 10:33 to play.
It was short lived as Murray State went 3-3 from the floor to regain the lead.
Banyard answered quickly, hitting a three to give ISU the lead yet again at 49-47.
Murray State cut the lead to 54-52 in favor of the Redbirds before Hawkins hit a jumper to inflate the ISU lead to four with 4:14 to play.
Hawkins nailed a three to give the Redbirds a five point lead, but Murray State answered with a 4-0 run to cut the ISU lead to 59-58 with 1:33 to play, forcing a time out from ISU head coach Dan Muller.
Out of the timeout, junior guard Paris Lee scored and forced a defensive stop leading to another dunk by Akoon-Purcell, making the score 63-58 with just 43 seconds to play.
Murray State’s Jones hit a three with 16 seconds to play to cut the ISU lead to 63-61 with just as much time to play.
Illinois State inbounded the ball, and Murray State committed an intentional foul on Akoon-Purcell with 8.8 seconds to play.
Akoon-Purcell missed both free throws giving the Racers another chance.
The ball landed in the hands of Murray State’s Moss who threw up a three pointer, guarded by McIntosh, which bounced off the rim.
Illinois State was paced by Hawkins’ 16 points while Akoon-Purcell and Banyard collected 11 points each. Hawkins and Banyard grabbed nine and seven rebounds, respectively. Lee had a game high seven assists.
All nine Redbirds who entered the game scored at least two points. ISU scored 25 baskets on 18 assists, and made a season high 10 three-pointers.
The Racers were lead by Wayne Langston’s 16 points and 12 rebounds. Jones and DaMarcus Croaker added 12 points each.
The Redbirds improve to 4-6 on the season while Murray State falls to 5-5.
Illinois State returns to action Wednesday as it travels to Chicago to matchup at University of Illinois-Chicago. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. while Redbird preview will begin at 7 p.m.
Listen to postgame comments from head coach Dan Muller and Deontae Hawkins here.
Austin Duncan can be reached at [email protected]
