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NORMAL, Ill. – A crowd of 2,275 was treated to a sneak peak of the 2016-17 Illinois State men's and women's basketball programs at Hoopfest Friday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
The season-tipoff event – held in conjunction with Illinois State Homecoming – started with the crowning of ISU's Homecoming king, Jaylon Joyner, and queen, Ashley Shannon. Both basketball programs were then introduced to the crowd, followed by the men's basketball dunk contest.
Sophomore forward Phil Fayne won the dunk contest – earning a perfect score of 40 points – by slamming down an ally-oop from senior guard Paris Lee off the side of the backboard.
In the next contest, student Vince Macdonald, men's basketball junior forward Milik Yarbrough and women's basketball freshman forward Megan Talbot teamed up to be the first of four teams to make a free throw, a 3-pointer and a half-court shot.
During the 10-minute red team versus black team women's scrimmage, the black team jumped out to a 12-0 lead, including six points from Brechelle Beachum. The red team then responded with nine-unanswered points, including seven by Amaria Allen. A pull-up jumper by Hannah Green stopped the black team's scoring drought, as the black team went on to win, 18-9.
In the men's red team versus gray team scrimmage, Fayne picked up where he left off in the dunk contest, throwing down two dunks in the first three minutes for the red team. A rebound-dunk by Daouda "David" Ndiaye, followed by a fast-break dunk by Andre Washington from Lee, broke a tie and gave the red team a 12-7 lead.
A Lee 3-pointer from the corner made it 17-13 at the six-minute mark, and DJ Clayton added on with a dunk from the baseline. Christian Romine's jumper for the gray team tied the game, 27-27. However, a Lee 3-pointer and a Fayne dunk in the final minute lifted the red team to a 32-27 victory.
The Illinois State men's basketball team will next host its sole exhibition game Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. versus Quincy, before opening the 2016-17 season Nov. 11 at Murray State. The Redbird men will then open their home schedule Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. versus Fort Wayne on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
The ISU women's basketball team is scheduled to host its only exhibition game Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. versus Harris-Stowe. The Redbirds will open their season Nov. 11 at Arizona State at 5 p.m. Illinois State will hold its home-opener Nov. 19 against Valparaiso.
Men's and women's basketball tickets are available by visiting GoRedbirds.com/Tickets or by calling (309) 438-8000.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
