By Jami Sponaugle 

Jacksonville, Ill. - Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's basketball came up short in their non-conference contest against the Illinois College Blueboys on Wednesday. Although the sides were tied at halftime, the Hawks (2-3) came up short in the second half as they fell to the Blueboys (5-1) by a final score of 62-50. 

First Half (Illinois Collrgr 29, Illinois Tech 29)

A back and forth battle took place in the first half of action between the Hawks and the Blueboys as neither side could gain much of an advantage. The first tie of the contest came at 16:04 remaining in the first half with a free throw made by Milos Dugalic to make it 8-8. A layup by Josh Harris quickly gave the Blueboys the lead before Dugalic once again tied the contest up, this time with a layup at 15:)1 remaining, making it 10-10. Then, between 13:13 and 3:55, the Blueboys were able to hold onto a slight lead. The Hawks stayed within reach though, never trailing by more than 6-points. At 3:54, Dugalic once again tied up the contest with a free throw to make it 23-23. With time ticking away, every time the Blueboys would take a lead, the Hawks would immediately tie it back up. The final point of the half came from Otis Reale at 1:10 remaining, making it 29-29 off a layup.

Second Half (Illinois College 33, Illinois Tech 21)

The Blueboys started the second half with a 11-2 run over the Hawks to take a 40-31 lead at 15:38 remaining in the game. Unfortunately for the Hawks, the Blueboys continued to build their lead and the Hawks were unable to come back. In the end, the Hawks fell to the Blueboys 62-50. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Dugalic led with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Dugalic made 6-of-7 free throw attempts. 

• Otis Reale followed with 17 points, 1 rebound. 

Blueboys Standouts

• Tre Rogers led with 18 points. Rogers finished with 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

• Mohammed Fadika followed with 13 points, 3 rebounds. 

Inside the Box Score

• The game saw a total of 6 ties and 4 lead changes. 

• The Hawks finished 18-of-57 (31.6%) from the field, 5-of-24 (20.8%) from three, and 9-of-11 (81.8%) in free throws while the Blueboys went 26-of-60 (43.3%), 5-of-21 (23.8%), and 5-of-8 (62.5%) respectively. 

• 26 of the Hawks points came in the paint.

• The Blueboys outrebounded the Hawks 41-35. 

Up Next

On Saturday, the Hawks return to action when they hit the road to take on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in Platteville, Wis. at 3:00 p.m.