NORMAL, Ill. – Newcomer DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell scored in bursts and finished with 16 points, as he propelled Illinois State to a 76-67 exhibition win against in-state foe Lewis at Redbird Arena Monday night.
Akoon-Purcell led four Redbirds in double figures, thanks to a 5-for-8 shooting effort from the field. Reggie Lynch added a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, to go along with seven blocked shots. Paris Lee added 14 points and four assists for ISU and Daishon Knight chipped in 13 points and dished out five assists in the victory.
The Flyers jumped out to a 10-7 lead at the first media timeout, thanks to some strong shooting from behind the arc and eight points from Max Strus. The Redbirds answered back with an 8-3 run, sparked by five-straight points from Akoon-Purcell and a three-pointer from the corner from Bobby Hunter, to take a 15-13 lead two minutes later.
The two teams battled back and forth, before the Flyers pulled away to a five-point lead at 26-21 on a three-pointer by Capel Henshaw with just over eight minutes left in the first half. That lead would not last long, as the Redbirds answered with 15-4 run, which was capped off on a pair of three-pointers by Hunter that gave the Redbirds a 36-30 lead with 3:20 remaining in the first half. The rest of the half was low-scoring and finished as Gabe Williams hit a jumper as the horn sounded at the half to cut the ISU lead to 40-35 at the half.
The Redbirds came out of the locker and jumped out to a 12-point lead at 51-39, after a pair of baskets by Knight and a layup from MiKyle McIntosh. The two teams battled back and forth and ISU maintained near a double-digit lead, before the Flyers chipped the lead down to five points on Strus' seventh three-pointer of the game with 7:15 left in the contest. Strus led all scorers with a game-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field and a 7-for-11 effort from three-point range.
Akoon-Purcell continued his impressive debut and extended the ISU lead back to double digits at 69-59, after he buried his second three-pointer of the contest as the clock moved under three minutes to play. A three-pointer by Ryan Jackson with just under a minute to play cut the Redbird lead to eight points at 73-65, but the Redbirds held on down the stretch with free throws to put the game away.
The Redbirds will open the regular season Sunday, Nov. 16, when they host Utah State in a BracketBusters return game from 2013. Tipoff at Redbird Arena is set for 4 p.m.
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