CHICAGO, Ill. - The Illinois Tech men's basketball team has moved its winning streak to five game and its December record to a perfect 5-0. Strong defense and guard play allowed the Scarlet Hawks to hold off Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology for a 69-67 win.

How it Happened

• The Scarlet Hawks started the game strong, scoring the contest's first seven points and building its largest lead of the night at 18-7 with 10:53 left in the first half. The run was aided by Max Hisatake, who blocked three shots in the first for minutes of the game.
• Three-point shooting helped Rose-Hulman cut into the deficit quickly, but the Fightin' Engineers were unable to take the lead prior to halftime. 
• A wild final 30 seconds of the first half featured blocks by Hisatake and Samuel Rarick, a fastbreak dunk by Hisatake from Malik Howze, a running lay-up in traffic by Rose Hulman's Ryuji Aoki, and a three-quarter court heave from Howze rimming out. After all of that, the Scarlet Hawks led 28-26 at intermission.
• Rose-Hulman took its first lead of the contest at the 17:23 mark of the second half (33-30) and were able to slowly extend the advantage. Two Aoki free throws with 8:24 left to play gave the Fightin' Engineers a seven-point lead at 52-45.
• Howze's offense would push Tech back on top. The sophomore transfer poured in nine points during a 19-6 run over the next 5:48 to give Illinois Tech a 64-58 lead with 2:36 to play.
• The Fightin' Engineers would play to their name and not go down without a fight. A Charlie Aimone jumper with one minute remaining tied the score at 67.
• On the next possession, Howze took his man off the dribble to create space, hitting a jump shot to re-take the lead. 
• The defense held on the final possesion, as an Aoki jumpshot was tightly contested.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Howze led all scorers with 25 points to go along with a game-high five assists and four rebounds.
• Anthony Mosley Jr. followed up his Player of the Week honors with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
• Hisatake was a force on the defensive end, blocking seven shots to compliment his 10 point, nine rebound performance.

Stats to Know

• Tech outshot Rose 42.6% to 40.0%.
• Rose committed 23 fouls compared to just 12 for Tech. In turn, Tech shot 21 more free throws (31 to 10).
• Rose-Hulman's bench outscored the Scarlet Hawks bench 40-6.

Up Next

• Illinois Tech returns to action on Wednesday, December 28 at Knox College for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.