Chicago , Ill. - Inside the Keating Sports Center on Sunday, December 10, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's basketball team welcomed the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Raiders for a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) contest. The Hawks (3-5, 2-2) fought to come back in the second half, but ultimately could not come out on top as they fell to the Raiders (2-6, 1-3) by a final score of 85-77.

First Half (MSOE 33 - Illinois Tech 26)

• Quickly the Raiders jumped out with the lead over the Hawks and led for the entirety of the first half. The Raiders Mason Dopirak put up two jumpers at 19:29 and 18:47 to take a 4-0 lead. Dario Biaggi recorded a three at 18:35 for the Hawks first basket of the contest. A scoreless streak then followed as neither side was able to convert a point until the Raiders Donovan Carter made a layup at the 15:49 mark. The two sides then went back and down the court as the Raiders slowly began to build their lead over the Hawks. With 9:25 remaining on the clock, the Raiders held a 11-point, 21-10 lead over the Hawks, their largest lead of the half. Andrew Veon was able to cut the Raiders lead down to nine with a layup at the 9:09 mark. Another scoreless streak followed between 9:08 and 7:38 before Rodney Murphy made a layup with 7:37 remaining until halftime. A free throw by Murphy made it a three point game with 6:25 on the clock. Then, with 3:15 on the clock, the Hawks were able to come within two after a DeAndre Vortes jumper. A 9-5 run by the Raiders closed out the half, sending the teams to the locker rooms with the Raiders leading the Hawks 33-26. 

Second Half (MSOE 52 - Illinois Tech 51)

• Coming out of halftime, the Raiders were able to build up to a 11-point lead at the 18:19 mark. Slowly, the Hawks chipped away at the Raiders lead starting with a Tomas Teklegergis layup at 17:57. After two free throws a piece from Teklegergis and Caden Gigstad, as well as a layup by Furkan Mohamed, the Hawks were able to cut the deficit to three as they trailed the Raiders 39-36 with 16:52 on the clock. With 13:26 remaining in the game, the Hawks tied the game with a free throw by Murphy to make the score 43-43. Murphy then made his second free throw to give the Hawks their first lead of the game. From there, the two sides battled back and forth, fighting to get ahead of the other. By the end of the contest, there were a total of eight ties and eight lead changes. 58-58 was the final tie of the game at 7:56 remaining. After the tie, the Raiders took the lead and held onto it, starting with a 7-0 run to the 6:53 mark to get ahead of the Hawks. The Hawks fought to stay within reach, but were unable to come back, ultimately falling to the Raiders by a final score of 85-77. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• DeAndre Vortes - 17 points, 6-of-13 from the field, 1-of-2 from three, 4-of-7 from the free throw line, 1 rebound

• Rodney Murphy - 16 points, 4-of-7 from the field, 8-of-9 from the free throw line, 9 rebounds, 3 steals

• Andrew Veon - 15 points, 7-of-10 from the field, 1-of-2 from the free throw line, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals

• Garrison Carter - Double-double, 14 points, 7-of-14 from the field, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 steal

Raiders Standouts

• Mason Dopirak - 26 points, 7-of-11 from the field, 12-of-13 from the free throw line, 8 rebounds, 2 assists 

• Donovan Carter - 19 points, 7-of-11 from the field, 5-of-5 from the free throw line, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal

• Chase Cummings - 13 points, 4-of-7 from the field, 1-of-2 from three, 4-of-4 from the free throw line, 1 rebound, 2 assists

• Matus Dopirak - 11 points, 4-of-7 from the field, 3-of-4 from the free throw line, 3 rebounds, 2 assists

Inside the Box Score

• The Hawks were 28-of-63 (44.4%) from the field, 2-of-10 (20.0%) from three, and 19-of-25 (76.0%) from the free throw line

• The Raiders were 29-of-50 (58.0%) from the field, 1-of-9 (11.1%) from three, and 26-of-30 (86.7%) from the free throw line

• The Raiders had 54 points in the paint versus the Hawks 48

• The Raiders were able to pick up 22 points off turnovers while the Hawks recorded just 12 points

• 41 of the Hawks points came off the bench 

• The Hawks out-rebounded the Raiders 34-27

Up Next

The Hawks will return to action on Friday, December 15, when they travel to Kenosha, Wis. to take on the Carthage College Firebirds at 6:00 PM in non-conference action.