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NORMAL, Ill. – Deontae Hawkins scored a season-high 16 points and Nick Banyard added a season-high 11 points as the Illinois State men's basketball team defeated Murray State, 63-61, Sunday afternoon on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
Hawkins shot 6-11 from the field, including 3-4 from beyond the arc and also grabbed a season-high nine rebounds. Banyard was also 3-4 from three-point land and recorded a season-high seven rebounds.
Murray State jumped out to an early 7-1 lead, and ISU shot 1-7 from the field to open the game. Hawkins drilled two threes and Roland Griffin finished a layup off a steal to tie the game at nine. Minutes later, Griffin gave ISU its first lead of the game with a three at the 9:35 mark.
The Redbirds rebounded from their 1-7 start by hitting eight of their next 17 shots, but struggled to keep Murray State out of the lane on the defensive end. The Racers carried a 31-26 lead into the half and 20 of MSU's points came inside the paint.
Griffin's presence off the bench boosted the Redbirds as he had a hand in 11 points in 12 minutes with five points and two assists. Hawkins finished the half with six points and a team-high four rebounds. The Racers held ISU's top two scorers in check with DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell tallying just two first half points and Paris Lee being held scoreless.
The Redbirds came out hot in the second half thanks to quality ball movement. Illinois State drilled four-straight shots to retake the lead at 39-38 with 15:18 remaining. During that five minute stretch, Akoon-Purcell and Banyard buried back-to-back threes and all four baskets were assisted.
ISU's run stretched to 13-2, but Murray State remained in striking distance. With 9:30 remaining, DeMarcus Croaker hit a three to regain the lead for the Racers, but Banyard answered with a three of his own seconds later. Lee extended the ISU lead to five with a three-pointer at the 5:53 mark, which was his first field goal of the game.
Murray State continued to hang around with a three-point play from Bryce Jones, but Hawkins canned a three to quiet any thoughts of a Racers' run and Lee made a layup to put ISU up three with 1:20 remaining. Akoon-Purcell put the exclamation point on the win with a breakaway tomahawk jam with less than a minute left and ISU advanced to 4-6 on the season.
Akoon-Purcell came alive in the second half to finish with 11 points on 5-10 shooting. Lee finished with six points, which is four below his average, but he dished out a season-high seven assists.
The Redbirds will be on the road the next two games, beginning Wednesday with an 8 p.m. tipoff at UIC. A live television broadcast will be available on the American Sports Network.
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