CARBONDALE, Ill. – Despite a team-high 18 points from Dalton Banks and a 10-point, 7-rebound, 7-assist effort from Chase Walker, the Illinois State Redbirds fell 88-79 on the road to the Southern Illinois Salukis on Tuesday evening.
Banks made 8-of-15 shots from the field for his 18 points, while nabbing three steals and dishing out three assists. After his big game against his former squad, Banks stands eight points away from 1,000 for his career and three assists away from 400 career in that category as well. Walker flirted with a triple-double with his stat line, while also adding two steals in the process.
Three others – Johnny Kinziger (13), Malachi Poindexter (12), and Jack Daugherty (11) all reached double-figure scoring with Jordan Davis and Landon Wolf each adding six points. Walkers' rebound and assist totals were the high mark on the team.
The Redbirds return to action on Sunday afternoon, when the Redbirds host the Evansville Aces as ISU will honor the teams graduating seniors following the game.
The teams traded baskets to open the game, as ISU got a 6-0 run from Daugherty to push ahead to a five-point, 8-3 lead. Leading by four following a Banks jumper, SIU went on a 13-0 run to lead by nine, and the hosts would not trail again in the contest. Southern Illinois' lead grew to as large as 14 in the first half, before the Redbirds closed the gap with a 7-1 run to close the gap to eight at 43-35 at halftime.
The Redbirds scored seven of the first nine points in the second half, closing the gap to three, but could not get any closer in the game. Despite seeing the deficit increase to 14 once again, the Redbirds chipped away at the deficit, closing to within as few as five with 4:17 to play; however, the Salukis answered back, as SIU secured the nine-point, 88-79 win.
SIU was led by Kennard Davis Jr. who scored 24 points while Ali Dibba scored 22 and Drew Steffe 18.
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