Akoon-Purcell Lifts Redbirds To 67-57 Win Over The Bears

[January 29, 2015]  NORMAL - The start of Wednesday night’s game was not pretty, as Illinois State and Missouri State combined for 22 turnovers in the first half of play, but the Redbirds (13-8, 5-4 MVC) broke out in the second half thanks to 20 points from DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell to come away with a 67-57 win over the Bears (8-13, 2-7 MVC) on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena

Akoon-Purcell tied a career-best with his 20 points and set a career-high with 12 rebounds in the win against Missouri State to record his second double-double performance of the season. He led a trio of Redbirds in double figures and was joined by Daishon Knight with 14 and Reggie Lynch with 12 points.

Missouri State jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the game, but the Redbirds scored the next six points to take a 6-5 lead at the second media time out of the first half. The two squads would then change the lead 10 times and tie the game three different times, before Missouri State’s Dorrian Williams put the Bears up 17-16 with 5:42 left in the first half.
 

A jumper by Bobby Hunter with five minutes left put the Redbirds back up by one point at 18-17 and jumpers by Akoon-Purcell and Lynch extended the Redbird lead to 22-19 with three minutes remaining in the half. A jumper by Deontae Hawkins widened the lead out to seven points at 26-19 a minute later. The Bears trimmed that lead to three points at 26-23, before Akoon-Purcell connected on a jumper with 41 seconds left to put the Redbirds up 28-23. Missouri State added a late bucket to cut the deficit back to three points at 28-25 as both teams headed to the locker room at halftime.

The Redbirds opened the second half on a 9-2 run, capped off on a three-pointer by Knight, to take a 10-point lead at 37-27 and force Missouri State to call a quick time out. A three-pointer by Hunter with 13:37 left on the clock gave the Redbirds a 42-32 advantage over the Bears. MSU would answer with five-straight points, including a three-pointer from the corner by Gavin Thurman, to cut the ISU lead to 42-37 a minute later.

A dunk by Lynch with 10 minutes left in the game increased the ISU advantage to 48-41, but Missouri State answered quickly with a jumper by Shawn Roundtree, Jr., on the other end to cut the deficit to 48-43. An alley-oop dunk on the Redbirds’ next possession by Akoon-Purcell put ISU back up 50-43 with 8:34 left in the game. Illinois State continued to keep its foot on the gas, as a steal and fast break layup by Knight gave ISU a 58-49 lead with 5:51 remaining.

Tony Wills gave the Redbirds an 11-point at 62-51 lead to tie the largest lead of the game at the time with a layup at the 4:16 mark. A three-pointer by Chris Kendrix cut that deficit to 62-55 with 2:20 left in the game. That would be as close as the Bears would get, as the Redbirds made free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

The Redbirds return to action Saturday, Jan. 31, when they travel to Chicago for a matchup against in-state foe Loyola. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Gentile Center, and the game will be broadcast live on CSN Chicago and FSN Midwest as part of the Missouri Valley Conference TV package.

[Michale Williams, Illinois State University]

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