Plymouth, Wis. - Up north, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's basketball team took on the Lakeland University Muskies in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) contest. A close contest through the entirety of the match, the Hawks (4-17, 3-11) entered overtime play with the Muskies (6-14, 4-9) after being tied at 69-69 at the end of regulation. With a 5 minute overtime period, the Muskies ended the contest on-top as they defeated the Hawks 81-75. 

First Half (Lakeland 32 - Illinois Tech 30)

• Off to a quick start, the Hawks went up on the Muskies 8-0 with three pointers by Dario Biaggi and Caden Gigstad, as well as a jumper by Furkan Mohamed. 16:17 marked the Muskies first basket of the game with a three pointer. After the Muskies came within one at 14:54, the Hawks jumped back out ahead, holding a 5-point, 12-7 lead at 13:24. Two free throws by the Muskies tied the contest for the first time as well as gave the Muskies a 15-14 lead at the 11:19 mark. Through the remainder of the half, multiple ties and lead changes would take place. The last tie before halftime came with just 1:14 remaining when the Muskies made a jumper to tie the game at 28 all. The Muskies then picked up four points, all off free throws to take the lead. With 22 seconds on the clock, Nicolas Ortiz made a layup for the Hawks to bring them within two. At halftime, the Hawks trailed the Muskies 32-30.  

Second Half (Lakeland 37 - Illinois Tech 39)

• Beginning the second half, the Muskies started off with a 8-0 run to extend their lead. Gigstad would record the Hawks first basket of the half at the 17:06 mark. Gigstad then went on to record a three pointer at 16:38 to make it a 1-point, 40-39 contest. A scoreless streak followed between the two sides and would last until 13:48 remained on the clock when Desmond Price drained a 3-pointer to tie the contest at 42-42. The Muskies quickly answered with a three of their own before Price picked up another three pointer to make the score 45-45 with 12:47 remaining. The Muskies then went back on top before Biaggi tied the contest at 50-all at 9:18 remaining with a fast-break layup. Once again, the Muskies were the ones who ended up on top coming out of the tie. A layup and a free throw by Rodney Murphy would tie the contest at 59-59 with 5:31 on the clock. After the Muskies picked up two free throws, Gigstad put the Hawks ahead 64-63 with a three pointer with 3:55 remaining. A jumper at 3:20 followed by a layup at 2:35 gave the Muskies a 67-64 lead with time ticking away. At 2:06, Garrison Carter brought the Hawks within one with a jumper. With one minute remaining, the Hawks would take a 2-point, 69-67 lead off a Andrew Veon layup and free throw. With 49 seconds on the clock, the Muskies recorded a layup to tie the contest at 69-69. Neither side could record another basket, sending the contest into overtime. 

Overtime (Lakeland 12 - Illinois Tech 6)

• In the five minute overtime period, the first basket came in favor of the home team at the 3:45 mark. 22 seconds later, the Hawks tied the game at 71-71 with a jumper by Price. Between 2:57 and 1:51, the Muskies went on a 6-0 run to build a lead over the Hawks. The lead proved to be too much as the Hawks were unable to make up the ground, ultimately falling to the Muskies 81-75. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Caden Gigstad - 23 points, 7-of-14 from the field, 4-of-7 from three, 5-of-5 from the free throw line, 1 rebound, 2 assists

• Desmond Price - 13 points, 5-of-7 from the field, 3-of-3 from three, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal

• Rodney Murphy - 10 points, 3-of-6 from the field, 4-of-4 from the free throw line, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals

Muskies Standouts

• Cam Jaeger - 22 points, 7-of-16 from the field, 3-of-6 from three, 5-of-8 from the free throw line, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block

• Isaiah Hammond - 14 points, 4-of-7 from the field, 6-of-8 from the free throw line, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block ,1 steal

• Jaxson Dillon - 13 points, 4-of-6 from the field, 2-of-4 from three, 3-of-6 from the free throw line, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 3 steals 

• Kai Buliox - Double-double, 11 points, 4-of-9 from the field, 3-of-4 from the free throw line, 15 rebounds, 1 block

Inside the Box Score

• The Hawks were 26-of-70 (37.1%) from the field, 8-of-24 (33.3%) from three, and 15-of-17 (88.2%) from the free throw line

• The Muskies were 24-of-58 (41.4%) from the field, 7-of-20 (35.0%) from three, and 26-of-36 (72.2%) from the free throw line 

• Form the paint, the Muskies recorded 32 points while the Hawks had 26

• The Muskies picked up 18 points off of turnovers

• 31 of the Hawks points came from the bench

Up Next

The Hawks will return to the Keating Sports Center on Saturday, February 3rd, as they welcome the Benedictine University Eagles for a 3:15 PM NACC contest.