Men’s Basketball Comes from Behind to Beat Albion

The Illinois Tech Men’s Basketball team traveled to Albion on Saturday, picking up a big win in a back-and-forth game with the Brits.  The Scarlet Hawks prevailed 83-78.

How it Happened

  • The Scarlet Hawks began the scoring but quickly fell behind 15-5—Albion’s largest lead of the game.  After a forced turnover and a couple baskets by Max Hisatake, Illinois Tech closed the gap to one before beginning the back-and-forth trend for the rest of the game.
  • Malik Howze made some key shots along with Hisatake and Jake Bruns down the stretch of the first half.  Howze finished the half with 11 points and Hisatake followed with 10 of his own.  However, the Brits’ Quay Burks had nine points of his own with teammate Caden Ebeling adding seven which left the Scarlet Hawks trailing 38-37 at halftime.
  • Albion extended the lead early in the second half to four points and the Hawks could not grab the lead again until five minutes into the period.  Parker Joncus kept Tech close, scoring nine of his 12 points in the second half.
  • The teams continued to trade baskets until Howze hit several big free throws and a pivotal three-point shot to put Illinois Tech up for good.  Howze finished the half with 14 points on the way to the Scarlet Hawks’ five point win.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

  • Howze led all scorers with 25 points off the bench.  He just missed a double-double with nine assists, three rebounds and one steal
  • Hisatake had 21 points, three rebounds, and one each of assist, steal and block
  • Jake Bruns scored 13 points while adding four rebounds and three assists
  • Joncus also scored with double digits with 12 points.  He contributed two rebounds and an assist as well.

Stats to Know

  • Illinois Tech shot a tremendous 58.1% from the floor and 57.1% from three
  • Rebounds and assists were in favor of Albion (29-24, 15-14)
  • Illinois Tech committed 17 turnovers
  • The Scarlet Hawks moved to 5-2 on the season

Up Next

  • Illinois Tech will be home for the first time this season at Keating Sports Center on Sunday when they host Chicago at 3:00 p.m.  Live audio, video, and stats will be available. The live audio will be powered by Illinois Media School.