NORMAL, Ill. – Although Illinois State out-scored Loyola in the second half, it was not able to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit, falling 59-50 in a physical 59-50 Rambler win on Monday evening.
Antonio Reeves scored a team-high 15 points to go with four rebounds, while Josiah Strong scored 11. Kendall Lewis scored nine points for the Redbirds, which had eight different players reach the scoring column in the game. Howard Fleming Jr. pulled down a team-best seven rebounds, while Strong and Mark Freeman dished out two assists apiece to lead the team.
ISU has a quick turnaround with a game against Southern Illinois on Wednesday evening in Carbondale – in what will be Illinois State's third game over a five-game span.
The Redbirds jumped ahead early, leading by as many as three following an Abdou Ndiaye jumper in the paint, putting ISU ahead 6-3. Loyola answered with a 12-3 run to push ahead by six, before the Redbirds came back with eight straight points to re-take the lead at 17-15. A Liam McChesney lay-in with 4:59 to play in the game gave the Redbirds their final lead of the game at 19-18, before the Ramblers ran off a 15-4 run to close the half with a 10-point, 33-23 lead.
The Rambler advantage grew to as many as 13 early in the second half and would float between 7 and 13 over the entirety of the second half, closing at nine in the 59-50 Loyola win.
Neither team would make 40 percent of their shots in the game, as Illinois State was 18-of-50 (36.0%) and Loyola 20-of-53 (37.7%) with the Redbirds making six three-pointers on 17 attempts and Loyola five in 21 tries.
Loyola was led by Aher Uguak who scored a game-high 17 points, while Tate Hall scored 11 and Tom Welch 10.
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