Lisle, Ill. - Looking for a win of any kind of variety, the Illinois Tech men's basketball team had to wait an extra day to travel to Benedictine to take on the Eagles, as the winter storm forced Wednesday night's game to be postponed. The extra day of preparation seemed to help the Scarlet Hawks, as they held the lead going into halftime. But the Eagles flipped the script on the Hawks in the second half, outscoring them 44-31 en route to a 75-66 Eagles' victory. The loss dropped the Hawks record to 3-19 overall and 2-13 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play. The Eagles improved to 9-14 overall and 8-8 in conference.
The Scarlet Hawks had five players score in double figures on the evening, led by 12 points each from
Jace Gooley and
Dario Biaggi. The Hawks shot 57% from the field and 57% from three-point range in the first half, opening up a 35-31 halftime lead. Conversely, the Eagles shot only 34% in the opening half, and 17% from behind the arc.Â
Benedictine would find their stride in the second half, shooting 48% from the field and 36% from three-point range, while the Hawks went cold in the second half, shooting only 32% from the field and only 11% from three-point range on 1-9 shooting. That disparity in the second half turned out to be the difference in the game.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Inside The Box Score
- Benedictine's Pat Mayfield with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block
- Ryan Sammons of Benedictine added 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists
- Illinois Tech actually held the lead in the game for a longer duration than Benedictine, with a 21:40 time with a lead compared to 16:31 for the Eagles
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks return to the Keating Center this Saturday at 1:00pm when they host NACC opponent Lakeland University for senior day.
