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Men's Basketball Completes Perfect Month

Samuel Rarick led all players in scoring (23 points) and rebounding (12 rebounding) on Friday night.
Samuel Rarick led all players in scoring (23 points) and rebounding (12 rebounding) on Friday night.

CHICAGO, Ill. - The Illinois Tech men's basketball team (9-3) played its seventh December game on Friday night, hosting the Fighting Scots of Monmouth College (2-7) in the Keating Sports Center. Tech completed a perfect 7-0 month, downing the Scots 66-62 in a tightly contested matchup.

How it Happened

  • It was the Fighting Scots who struck first, building its largest lead of the contest of eight points (15-7) at the 14:32 mark courtsey of four early three-point baskets.
  • Tech called a timeout following Lamont Mitchell's three-pointer to put MC up eight. The move would pay off, as the Scarlet Hawks would creep back into the contest and take a 21-20 lead on a Samuel Rarick basket at the 7:49 mark. 
  • The Scarlet Hawks extended the first half lead to six with 3:05 to go, but the Scots went into halftime with a 35-33 lead after Paul Engo III made two free throws with 0.2 seconds to play before intermission.
  • With the Scots up three points early in the second half, a shooting foul and technical foul both went against Monmouth, resulting in four made free throws from Rarick. The situation flipped the score in favor of Tech and gave the Hawks a lead for the first time in the second half. 
  • After four more lead changes, Jake Bruns provided a big spark for the Scarlet Hawks around the eight minute mark. Rarick found the sophomore guard for three-point field goals on consecutive possessions, pushing the Scarlet Hawk lead to seven (57-50) with 7:42 to play. It tied the team's largest lead of the contest.
  • Monmouth fought back to tie the score at 60 with 4:18 to play, but an Anthony Mosley Jr. jumper about 90 seconds later gave the Scarlet Hawks the lead for good. 
  • Will Jones scored with 17 seconds left to pull the Scots to within three at 65-62 and then forced a five-second call on the ensuing inbounds play. Tech, however, forced a missed three-pointer from Mitchell, which was followed by a made Rarick foul shot to ice the victory.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

  • Rarick had one of his best games of the season. The senior co-captian led all players in scoring (23 points) and rebounding (12), shooting 9-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. The Chicago native also added three assists, two steals, and a blocked shot.
  • Mosley Jr. was the only player in the contest to play all 40 minutes. He scored 20 points and added eight rebounds and seven assists, shooting 9-of-12 from the free throw line.
  • Bruns made three shots from beyond the arc off the bench, finishin with nine points and two assists.
  • Max Hisatake blocked five shots and pulled down 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes.

Stats to Know

  • The Scarlet Hawks held Monmouth to just 31.1% shooting (23-of-74). It was Tech's best defensive output of the season.
  • Monmouth outrebounded Tech 48-45.
  • The Scarlet Hawks attempted 10 more free throws (19-9) than the Scots. Monmouth committed 14 fouls compared to Tech's nine.
  • The win avenged Tech's largest margin of defeat from last season, as the Fighting Schots defeated Tech 119-59 last February.

Up Next

  • The Scarlet Hawks will open the 2017 portion of the schedule on Wednesday, January 4 by hosting East-West University. The contest will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Keating Sports Center. Live audio, video, and stats will be available. The live audio will be powered by Illinois Media School.