OBERLIN, Ohio. - The Illinois Tech men's basketball team put forth a dominant effort on Saturday to win its first game of the season. Taking on Kalamazoo College at the Oberlin College Tournament, the Scarlet Hawks won 88-79.

Records

• Tech 1-2, Kalamzoo 2-2

How it Happened

• Kalamazoo's early 5-4 advantage was the first and only lead the team would have for the duration of the game. Illinois Tech quickly jumped back ahead with a 7-0 run, with five of the seven points coming from Malik Howze.
• Despite a few small runs from the Hornets, Tech stood strong and eventually built the first-half lead to as high at 15 at 47-32 on a Parker Joncus three-pointer with 52 seconds left. Tech led 47-36 at halftime.
• Kalamazoo attempted to make another run early in the second half, but six straight points from Samuel Rarick from 14:37 to 13:23 managed to keep the Hawks atop.
• With the Hornets rallying late, Anthony Mosley Jr. hit a three-pointer at the 3:39 mark to incrase Tech's lead from four to seven. Jake Digiorgio hit two key lay-ups to answer made Kalamazoo baskets over the final 2:30 of the contest. Tech was also 8-of-10 at the free throw line over the last 1:18 to ice the victory.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Digiorgio tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, his second double-double in just three games. He also tallied two steals and two blocked shots. 
• Rarick had his best game of the season to date, leading all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting (60.0%).
• Mosley Jr. had a solid all-around game, scoring 16 points to go along with eight assists, five rebounds, and three steals.
• Howze (14 points) and Joncus (11 points) also scored in double-digits.

Stats to Know

• Illinois Tech shot 48.4% compared to Kalamazoo's 42.9%.
• The three-point line proved to be a big difference, as Tech's 8-of-17 (47.1%) outdid K-Zoo's 2-of-12 (16.7%).
• Bench scoring was even at 23.

Up Next

• Illinois Tech will play at 2:00 p.m. ET (1:00 p.m. CT) on Sunday against host Oberlin. Oberlin will provide live stats and a live webcast of the contest.