River Forest , Ill. - On Wednesday, January 17, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's basketball team was on the road to take on the Concordia University Chicago Cougars in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) action. The Hawks (3-14, 2-8) would go on to play strong through the first half of action, heading into halftime leading the Cougars (8-8, 5-6) 37-31. Unfortunately for the Hawks, the home team was able to turn the game in their favor during the second half and secure a 84-71 victory over the Hawks. 

First Half (CUC 31 - Illinois Tech 37)

• A free throw by Caden Gigstad began the contest in favor of the Hawks at 19:44. Garrison Carter would go on to make a three at 19:02 before the Cougars made their first basket, a layup, at 18:40. The Hawks continued to stay ahead until the 17:30 mark when the Cougars hit a three to take a 9-7 lead. Between 18:04 and 12:50, the Cougars went on a 14-0 run over the Hawks, taking a 11-point, 18-7 lead. Rodney Murphy broke the Cougars run at 12:18 with a layup. With 5:41 remaining in the half, the Hawks took back the lead in the contest from a Joshua Iguade layup. After a three pointer by Furkan Mohamed and another layup by Iguade, the Hawks held a 6-point, 26-20 lead with 4:41 on the clock. For the remainder of the half, the Hawks stayed on top. The two sides headed into halftime with the Hawks leading the Cougars 37-31. 

Second Half (CUC 53 - Illinois Tech 34)

• The Hawks held onto their lead for the first five minutes of action in the second half. At the 5:01 mark, the Cougars picked up two free throws to tie and take the lead at 48-47. Following the free throws, the Hawks and Cougars went back-and-forth in sharing the lead. The last tie of the contest came after a Carter three pointer made the score 55-55 with 11:30 remaining on the clock. After this, the Cougars began to dominate the game offensively, starting off with a 10-0 run to the 8:30 mark. Andrew Veon made a layup at 8:23 as the Cougars led the Hawks 65-57. 6:51 marked the Cougars largest lead of the contest as they led the Hawks 76-58, an 18-point difference. At the final buzzer, the scoreboard read 84-71 in favor of the home team. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Garrison Carter - 26 points, 9-of-15 from the field, 3-of-6 from three, 5-of-5 from the free throw line, 4 rebounds

• Andrew Veon - 12 points, 5-of-8 from the field, 2-of-4 from the free throw line, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Cougars Standouts

• Justin Greenlee - 24 points, 10-of-17 from the field, 1-of-1 from three, 3-of-3 from the free throw line, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal

• Jordan Matthews - 20 points, 7-of-17 from the field, 2-of-6 from three, 4-of-4 from the free throw line, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 7 steals

• Emmanuel Wilson - 14 points, 6-of-10 from the field, 2-of-3 from three, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal

• Sean Beckman - 11 points, 3-of-4 from the field, 1-of-2 from three, 4-of-4 from the free throw line, 5 rebounds, 2 assists

Inside the Box Score

• The Hawks were 28-of-56 (50.0%) from the field, 6-of-22 (27.3%) from three, and 9-of-13 (69.2%) from the free throw line

• The Cougars were 31-of-68 (45.6%) from the field, 6-of-18 (33.3%) from three, and 16-of-17 (94.1%) from the free throw line

• The Hawks had 38 points in the paint while the Cougars had 44

• 35 of the Cougars points came off turnovers 

Up Next

The Hawks will be back in action on Saturday, January 20th, when they welcome the St. Norbert College Green Knights to the Keating Sports Center. Tip-off for the NACC contest is scheduled for 3:15 PM.