Newcomers key Redbird victory    

[NOV. 15, 2004]  MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- Junior college transfers Lorenzo Gordon and Nedu Onyeuku combined for 30 second-half points and spurred Illinois State to a 82-73 victory over Penn State in the first round of the 2004 Black Coaches Association Classic at the Bradley Center Sunday night.

The win marked the first for the Redbirds over a Big Ten Conference foe since a 67-47 win at Northwestern on Dec. 18, 1996, giving the ISU program five victories over the Big Ten.

At one stretch, Gordon scored 18 straight points for ISU, including the first 14 of the second half, which erased a 37-32 halftime deficit and forced a 46-46 tie with 13:48 left in the game. The hot hand transferred to Onyeuku, as he scored all 16 of his points in the next six minutes on a 20-12 ISU run that paved the way for 66-58 Redbird lead with 7:03 remaining.

Senior sharpshooter Trey Guidry followed Onyeuku's scoring wave with 10 straight tallies of his own and pushed the ISU lead to 11 points at 74-63, its largest of the game. Vince Greene capped off the night with four straight free throws, pushing his school record to 48 straight makes from the line.

Gordon finished with a game-high 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting. He also added six rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Onyeuku's 16 points off the bench equaled Guidry's 16-point effort, while Greene collected a career-high eight rebounds to go along with his six assists.

Penn State placed four players in double figures, led by Geary Claxton with 16.

The Redbirds will face the winner of the Marquette-Western Carolina first-round game on Monday night at 7:30 p.m.

[Todd Kober, assistant athletics director, media relations,
Illinois State University]

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