CHICAGO—The Illinois Institute of Technology men's basketball team brought a three-game losing skid into their Saturday-afternoon bout against Edgewood College at the Keating Sports Center. The Scarlet Hawks returned to the win column with a 77-70 decision over the Eagles.

The Scarlet Hawks improve to 7-12, 5-9 NACC while Edgewood drops to 6-13, 5-9 NACC.

"I was happy with our performance today as our defense was really good except for the last minute of the game when we allowed them to have a little explosion," said IIT head men's basketball coach Todd Kelly. "All of our guys played well, I think Ahmad Muhammad and Miles Curry carried us offensively. Max Hisatake did a good job defending, rebounding and making free throws. This win keeps us alive for the conference tournament, so its exciting to know we have life left."

Ahmad Muhammad made half his shots with an 8-16 (.500) field goal mark en route to a game-high 25 points, which included a 9-10 figure at the charity stripe. Miles Curry was nearly automatic with 19 points while Max Hisatake converted his 14th double double of the season with a career-high 19 rebounds along with 14 points, two blocks, two steals and two assists. The Scarlet Hawks converted 23-28 (.821) free throws and shot 25-56 (.446). 

Jake Negus was within striking distance of a triple-double with 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while his Edgewood team shot 23-55 (.418). Caleb Holzman chipped in 16 points for the Eagles to round out the double figure scorers. 

Outside of a brief 31-30 deficit with 1:28 left in the first half, the Scarlet Hawks either led or tied from start-to-finish.

IIT will return to action on Tuesday, February 4 at Wisconsin Lutheran College. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.