River Forest, Ill. - Milos Dugalic hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:04 remaining, and Otis Reale scored a career-high 28 points, as the Illinois Tech men's basketball team took down host Dominican University 76-72 Wednesday night at the Igini Sports Forum. The Scarlet Hawks improved to 3-7 on the season, and evened up their NACC record at 2-2. The Stars dropped to 1-10 overall (0-5 NACC).

The Hawks returned to the court for the first time since December 11th, with a pair of games postponed in between.

How It Happened:

First Half

• The Hawks had the upper-hand early, with a Caden Gigstad layup at 13:54 giving Illinois Tech a seven-point lead, 12-5.
• The Stars countered with a 13-0 run, capped off by a layup from Chris Daniels II at 10:59 to put Dominican out front, 18-12.
• The Hawks caught up and extended to a five-point lead after a Reale three-pointer at 5:51 put the Hawks up, 30-25.
• The Stars tied the game up at 30-30 at 4:42, but a pair of Allan Watatani free throws at 2:23 pushed the Hawks lead back up to five, 35-30.
• Dominican finished out the half with a 7-2 run to head to the break tied 37-37.
• Reale paced the Hawks with 17 points. Dugalic had four rebounds.
• Hunter French had 16 points for the Stars.

Second Half

• A Dugalic jumper at 15:49 completed a 12-4 run for the Hawks, and gave them a 49-41 lead.
• The Stars chipped away, staying within four points for the majority of the second half, before a Gavin Richardson three-pointer with 6:55 remaining gave Dominican a 64-62 lead.
• Tied at 70-70, the teams went scoreless for over two minutes before Reale and Richardson traded baskets under two minutes remaining, setting up the dramatics for Dugalic's go-ahead basket.
• Dugalic had 12 points and four rebounds. Reale added 11 points.
• Richardson and Jackson Smith each added 12 points for the Stars.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Reale led the Hawks with 28 points on 58 percent shooting from the field (11-19).
• Dugalic finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
• Gigstad added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Stars Watch

• French had 18 points and five rebounds.
• Smith finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
• Richardson added 15 points and five rebounds.

Inside the Box Score

• The Hawks finished shooting 30% from three-point range (6/20), while the Stars finished at 27% (10/37).
• Team fouls were fairly even, with the Hawks committing 14 fouls to the Stars 15.
• Illinois Tech was 10-14 from the free throw line (71.4%). The Stars were 8-9 (88.9%).
• The Hawks turned the ball over 10 times, resulting in 10 Dominican points. The Stars had 11 turnovers, resulting in 14 Illinois Tech points.
• Reale was the minutes leader for the Hawks, playing 37 minutes. French played 38 minutes for Dominican.

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks head to Plymouth, Wisconsin to take on Lakeland University Saturday, January 8th at 4:15pm in a NACC matchup.