Redbirds Sweeps Series With Loyola With 67-60 Win

[February 23, 2015]  NORMAL - Senior guard Daishon Knight led Illinois State with 21 points Saturday night against Loyola, as the Redbirds (17-11, 9-7 MVC) pulled away for a 67-60 victory over the Ramblers (16-12, 6-10 MVC) on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. ISU secured its fourth MVC regular-season sweep of the year over a Valley opponent with the win.

Knight led a trio of Redbirds in double figures with his game-high 21 points, marking his seventh game of the season with 20 or more points. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell finished with 14 points and seven rebounds and MiKyle McIntosh added 10 points and eight boards for the Redbirds in the victory over the Ramblers.

Loyola opened up the first half with a 6-2 run to take the lead at 14-8 early at the 13:29 mark. Reggie Lynch scored a field goal to cut the lead to 11-14 with 11:47 remaining in the first-half, and the Redbirds later went on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 18-18 on a jumper by John Jones.

McIntosh then drained a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Redbirds their first lead of the night at 21-18 with 5:51 remaining in the first half, and ISU would never relinquish the lead. A 3-pointer by Akoon-Purcell extended the Redbirds’ lead to 26-20 and Loyola added a basket before the buzzer, as ISU took a 26-22 lead into halftime. McIntosh led the Redbirds in scoring in the first half, scoring seven of the Redbirds’ 22 points.

Deontae Hawkins connected on a 3-pointer at the beginning of the second half to widen the Redbirds’ lead over the Ramblers coming out of the break, and that basket was followed by another 3-pointer by Akoon-Purcell. Knight extended the lead in the second half with a 3-pointer of his own to make the score 35-31, before back-to-back buckets by Akoon-Purcell staked the Redbirds to a five-point lead at 40-35 with 13:55 remaining in the contest.

The Ramblers cut the Redbirds lead to just three points at 42-39 with 9:52 to go in the second half, before the Redbirds went on an 8-3 run as two free throws by Knight gave Illinois State a 48-40 lead at the 7:43 mark. The Ramblers fought back with a 9-3 run to pull within a basket at 51-49 on a 3-pointer by Devon Turk with 4:20 left.

Illinois State responded with a 7-0 run to take a 58-49 lead on a 3-point play by Knight and then went on a 9-2 run, capped off by a McIntosh layup with 1:53 left, to take a 10-point lead 60-50. Loyola went on a 5-1 run, taking just 30 seconds off the clock, to cut ISU’s lead to 61-55 with 1:13 left, but the Ramblers could not get any closer and suffered the seven-point defeat.

Illinois State closes out the home portion of its regular-season schedule on Wednesday, Feb. 25, versus Southern Illinois on Senior Night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and tickets are available on GoRedbirds.com, or by visiting or calling the ISU Athletics Ticket Office [phone].

[Michael Williams, Illinois State University]

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