The Illinois Tech Men’s Basketball team hosted the Moody Bible Archers on February 14 at the Keating Sports Center. Both teams exchanged leads all game, but an Archer three-pointer tied the game at 67 and sent the game to overtime. The Scarlet Hawks won in thrilling fashion 75-74.

How It Happened

• Both teams started out the game struggling on the offensive end as they exchanged leads through the first eight minutes. The Archers began to heat up from the field as the Scarlet Hawks went cold, and they managed to build a seven point lead (33-26) with two minutes left in the half.
• Relentless work and hustle on the offensive boards by sophomore Jake Digiorgio helped the Hawks cut the lead down to three (33-30) at halftime.
• The Scarlet Hawks and Archers kept trading baskets to start the second half. Forward Samuel Rarick started the half strong as he scored six of the first eight points of the half, but the Hawks were not able to cut into the deficit as they still trailed 41-38.
• Guard Malik Howze made his presence felt, scoring two consecutive baskets to help give the Hawks a seven point lead (54-47) with seven minutes left in the game.
• But the Archers kept fighting and managed to re-take the lead again (62-60) with 1:30 left. However, the lead was short lived as a three-point play by Rarick temporarily gave the Hawks a 67-64 lead.
• With 15 seconds left, Joshua Wedeyen of Moody Bible nailed a three-pointer to ultimately send the game to overtime.
• In overtime, both teams continued to trade leads, but a missed three pointer by Wedeyen with seconds left gave the Hawks the thrilling one-point overtime win.

Scarlet Hawks Standouts

• Digiorgio had one of his best games of the season, as he pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds to go along 17 points (five-of-12) and three steals.
• Howze got in foul trouble early, but had a very effective game as he went eight-of-16 from the field for a team-high 20 points (two-of-three from three point range). He also tallied three assists and two rebounds.
• Rarick also shot well from the field and scored 19 points (seven-of-15) while grabbing eight rebounds.
• Freshman Max Hisatake packed the stat sheet in only 19 minutes of play, scoring seven points, grabbing three rebounds, and blocking three shots to go along with two steals.

Stats to Know

• The Hawks put up 26 more shots than the Archers and shot 36.5% (27-of-74) from the field. The Archers went 27-of-58 (46.6%).
• Moody Bible shot a stellar 50% from the three point line (seven-of-14) while the Hawks only went three-of-18 (16.7%).
• Illinois Tech was dominant on the boards, as they out rebounded the Archers by 17 (49-32). The advantage led to 22 second chance points for the Hawks compared to only five for the Archers.
• The Scarlet Hawks had great contributions off the bench, outscoring the Archers 22-6.

Up Next

• Illinois Tech will play again on Thursday, February 16 at the Keating Sports Center as the team hosts Lincoln Christian in a rescheduled contest. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. Live video and stats will be available; live audio will be provided by the Illinois Media School.