Trey Guidry tied his career high with 27 points off the bench and Greg Dilligard had career highs with 10 points and 9 rebounds, in the Redbirds 80-69 win against Eastern Michigan Saturday night at Redbird Arena. Marcus Arnold also set a new career high with 22 points.
The Redbirds never trailed, as Gregg Alexander opened the game up with a 3-point shot that gave Illinois State the lead, which they would never relinquish.
The Redbirds held their biggest lead of the first half with just under 12 minutes to play, as Neil Plank knocked in two free throws to give the Redbirds a 9-point lead.
Trey Guidry came off the bench to provide the spark again for Illinois State, as he lead all scorers with 11 in the first half. Freshman Greg Dilligard had a huge first half, as he reached career highs in points (8) and rebounds (8) in only one half of play.
In the second half, the Eagles received a heavy dose of Redbird sophomore Marcus Arnold, as Arnold had 16 of his career high 22 in the second frame. As a team, the Redbirds shot 50% for the game.
Eastern Michigan tied the game at 41 with just over 16 minutes to play and remained within striking distance throughout most of the second half. However an 8-0 Redbird run concluding with a Guidry bucket at the 5:19 mark gave Illinois State a 10-point lead and some breathing room. Illinois State led by as many as 14 in the second half.
James Jackson led the way for Eastern Michigan with 16, while Danny McElhinny added 14.
With the win, Illinois State moves to 3-2 on the season, while Eastern Michigan drops to 2-4. Illinois State will next be in action, Saturday, December 13 in Chicago against the University of Illinois-Chicago, at 5:05 p.m.
