CHICAGO—Lakeland College paid the Illinois Institute of Technology men's basketball team a visit to the Keating Sports Center for a Saturday-afternoon battle. Max Hisatake went off for a career-high 34 points along with 17 rebounds and five assists in the Scarlet Hawks' 71-67 victory over the Muskies.
"I was happy with our defense," said IIT head men's basketball coach Todd Kelly. "Holding them to 38 percent from the field was good. But I was still disappointed with our free throw shooting as we went 8-18 from the line. With being short-handed today we were really happy as Ahmad (Muhammad) and Max (Hisatake) played well. He (Hisatake) got 34 points but still think he could've done better. We're happy to get a conference win at home."
The Scarlet Hawks improve to 5-8, 3-5 NACC while Lakeland drops to 6-7, 4-4 NACC.
Hisatake, who registered his 10th double double of the 2019-20 season, now carries 1,110 points and 959 rebounds over his four-year career. He also posted a pair of blocks in the contest. Ahmad Muhammad reached double figures for the fourth-straight game with 14 points while Milos Dugalic was within striking distance of a double double with nine points, eight boards and five assists.
Illinois Tech held Lakeland to 24-63 (.381) shooting and 12-36 (.333) from beyond the arch. Carlos Campos paced the Muskies with 15 points while Jequan Pegeese distributed the ball well with nine assists along with 12 points.
The Scarlet Hawks, who led 38-29 at halftime, found themselves in a hole just once in the opening half and maintained their advantage throughout the final 20:00 en route to a 71-67 win.
IIT will return to action on Wednesday, January 15 at Marian (Wis.) for a 7:00 p.m. start.