By Austin Duncan
NORMAL, Ill- The Illinois State Redbirds trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half for the third straight game but rallied to take down Loyola 54-52 at Redbird Arena.
The Ramblers started the game on a 13-0 run which included a reverse dunk by Montel James.
Illinois State stopped the run when Mikyle McIntosh hit a free throw to cut the Loyola lead to 13-1 at the 13:32 mark of the first half.
On the Redbirds’ next possession, it captured its first field goal of the game on a layup by Nick Banyard, which sparked a 13-2 run capped by a Deontae Hawkins 3-pointer to make the score 15-13 in favor of Loyola with 7:34 to play in the first half.
Loyola would expand its lead to nine once again before the Redbirds used a 5-0 run, once again capped by a Hawkins 3-pointer. Tony Wills stole Loyola’s Milton Doyle’s ball leading to a basket and a foul by ISU’s Devaughn Akoon-Purcell to give the ‘Birds its first lead of the game, 22-21 with 3:12 remaining in the first half.
Illinois State led 26-21 at the half.
The Ramblers started the second half with a 3-pointer from Doyle to cut ISU’s lead to just two.
Hawkins continued his hot shooting for the Redbirds connecting on another three to expand the team’s lead to 31-24 with 17:51 to play.
Both teams went on a significant scoring drought. The Ramblers ended it with a Devon Turk 2-point make with 9:40 to play. Akoon-Purcell ended Illinois State’s drought after over six minutes to give ISU a 35-31 lead. Illinois State’s Nick Banyard hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the ‘Birds up 10.
Loyola’s Earl Peterson hit a layup to cut Illinois State’s lead to six with 5:18 remaining. Loyola continued a 9-2 run capped by four straight points from Tyson Smith to cut ISU’s lead to 46-44 with 2:51 to play.
Up two points, Illinois State head coach Dan Muller used a time out to draw up a play that found Paris Lee hitting a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to put ISU up five.
Illinois State inbounded the ball after a pair of free throws from Montel James, who cut the lead to five. Loyola then recovered a missed dunk by Nick Banyard and Tyson Smith hit a 3-pointer with just eight seconds to play to cut the ISU lead to 54-52.
The inbound after the Smith 3-pointer took Akoon-Purcell out of bounds giving Loyola another chance with five seconds remaining. Montel James found the ball for Loyola and put up a layup that was blocked by Nick Banyard to end the game.
Illinois State was lead in scoring by Akoon-Purcell who finished with14 points. Deontae Hawkins and Nick Banyard collected 13 and 10 points respectively. Quintin Brewer finished with a team-high eight rebounds while Mikyle McIntosh led the team in assists with three. Brewer left the game with an ankle injury and did not return to the game.
Loyola was paced by Montel James’ 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Earl Peterson also added 12 points.
The Redbirds improve to 9-7 on the season and hold a 3-0 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. Illinois State is now one of three remaining MVC teams sitting atop the conference at 3-0. Wichita State and Southern Illinois are the other two teams.
Illinois State returns to action Saturday as it travels to Indiana State for a 1 p.m. tip. Redbird preview will begin at noon.
Listen to postgame comments from Dan Muller and Nick Banyard here.
