CHICAGO, Ill. - The Illinois Tech men's basketball team hosted East-West University on Tuesday for Samuel Rarick jersey retirement day and the last game of the regular season. Tech jumped ahead early and never looked back, dominating East-West 78-42 to move to 18-7 on the year.

How it Happened

• It did not take long for the Scarlet Hawks to establish themselves as the aggressor, scoring the game's first eight points over less than three minutes of play. 
• As the half progressed, the lead continued to build. A Calvin Schmitz lay-up at the 10:41 mark put Tech up 16 at 20-4. 
• East-West's strongest portion of the evening may have been late in the first half and early in the second half The Phantoms played the Hawks even the rest of the first half to trail 35-19 and halftime before coming out of the gate strong in the second, with Kinsley Shaw scoring six of the half's first eight points to pull EWU within 12.
• The game's momentum clearly shifted back in Tech's favor thanks to Parker Joncus. The junior's emphatic steal and breakway slam dunk at the 17:13 mark brought life back into the crowd and the Hawks bench.
• The team followed suit, as the defense tightened up to send the Phantoms on a drought of over five minutes. Tech's offense helped the lead reach to over 30 points (61-30) for the first time of the contest at the 7:11 mark.
• Tech's lead reached as high as 36 throughout the rest of the half, including the 78-42 final, as the Scarlet Hawks were able to exploit the high-pressure Phantom defense into several open lay-ups.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Jake Digiorgio once again was dominant on the glass, recording a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds. He finishes the regular season with 12 double-doubles and 16 double-digit rebounding games out of 25.
• Capriest Gardner had one of his best games of the season, tying his season-high of 11 points (on 5-of-6 shooting) to go along with three rebounds.
• Anthony Mosley Jr. found his groove, scoring 13 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
• Max Hisatake tallied 13 points and seven rebounds in just 21 minutes of action.

Stats to Know

• This was Tech's most dominant defensive game of the season, allowing a season-low 42 points and allowing their lowest opponent's shooting percentage (25.0%) of the season.
• Despite heavy pressure from the Phantoms, the Scarlet Hawks turned the ball over only nine times compared to EWU's 16.
• Tech dominanted in the paint (42-28) and on the break (20-2).

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks head to Uniontown, Pennsylvania for the USCAA Tournament Quarterfinals on Wednesday, February 28 at 4:00 p.m. eastern (3:00 p.m. central) against #5 Rochester College. Live coverage of the game will be made available by the USCAA.