EVANSVILLE, Ind.  – Trailing by two with three and a half minutes to play, the Illinois State Redbirds ran off 11 consecutive points to turn the two-point deficit into a nine-point lead, before settling on a 69-61 road MVC win over the Evansville Aces on Saturday afternoon.
Poindexter scored a career-high 18 points in the win, converting on 5-of-8 from the field, 2-of-5 from long range and all six of his free throw attempts. Seneca Knight scored 15 points – also on 5-of-8 shooting – while Darius Burford scored 12 points with six rebounds and a game-high six assists. Kendall Lewis and Harouna Sissoko each narrowly missed the double-figure scoring plateau with eight and seven points, respectively.
Lewis tied for a game-high with seven rebounds, as Burford added six, helping the Redbirds to a 37-24 advantage on the boards. Burford's six assists helped the 'Birds to 14 total assists, as Lewis grabbed a game-high three steals, with Burford adding two.
The Redbirds return to action on Wednesday, January 11 when the 'Birds host the Missouri State Bears in a 7 p.m. tip-off inside CEFCU Arena.
Both teams struggled to find their offensive footing as Evansville led 3-0 through the first four minutes of the game before Poindexter opened the scoring for ISU with a three-point basket which kicked off a 7-0 Redbird run. After the Aces tied the score at 12 apiece just over halfway through the first half, ISU ran off a 10-0 run, and increased their lead to as many as 11 in the first half before the hosts trimmed the margin to three at 34-31 heading into the locker room at halftime.
ISU kept its lead through the first eight and a half minutes of the second half before the Aces took their first lead since the early portions of the game, as the last 11 minutes had five ties and 10 lead changes, the final lead change coming during ISU's late-game 11-0 run.
Evansville was led by Marvin Coleman and Kenny Strawbridge who each scored 16 points, while Antoine Smith Jr. scored nine. Preston Phillips pulled down seven rebounds.
TEAM NOTES
- Illinois State is now 7-10 (2-4 MVC) on the season while Evansville is 4-13 (0-6 MVC).
- Illinois State used a starting lineup of 0 Luke Kasubke, 1 Malachi Poindexter, 10 Darius Burford, 13 Liam McChesney, and 22 Kendall Lewis.
- This is the second time that this lineup has been used this season.
- Today's game is the 67th time these two teams have met on the basketball court
- Illinois State leads the all-time series 46-21
- The Redbirds now lead the all-time series between the teams 17-16 in Evansville.
- Evansville won the opening tip.
- The first Illinois State points of the game came with 15:45 to play in the first half on a three-pointer by Malachi Poindexter.
- Illinois State's first sub was Seneca Knight with 17:34 to play in the first half.
- Illinois State led 34-31 at halftime.
- The announced attendance of 6,487 is the largest crowd the Redbirds have played in front of this season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Malachi Poindexter
- Scored in double-figures for the fifth time this season
- Set a career-high with 18 points
- He has made all 23 of his free throw tries on the season through the first 17 games of the season.
- Seneca Knight
- Reached double-figure scoring for the eighth time this season and 52nd time in his career
- Darius Burford
- Set a season-high with six assists
- Scored in double-figures for the 10th time this season and 37th time in his career
- Harouna Sissoko
- Tied a season-high with seven points
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