Chicago, Ill. - Tied at 80 with just over a minute to play, the Illinois Tech men's basketball team pulled away down the stretch, using a pair of steals and six free throws to down visiting Concordia Wisconsin 86-82 Saturday night at the Keating Sports Center. The Scarlet Hawks improved to 4-8 on the season, and evened up their NACC record at 3-3. The Falcons dropped to 6-8 overall (5-4 NACC).

Milos Dugalic had a monster game for the Scarlet Hawks, finishing with 30 points and 11 rebounds. He was one of four Hawks scoring in double figures on the evening.

The Falcons opened the game with an 8-2 run, and had a lead of 10 points on multiple occasions throughout the first half before heading into the break leading 47-39. Jordan Johnson was the hot hand for the Falcons, pouring in 17 points while pulling down six rebounds. Dugalic had 12 points in the half. Calvin Schmitz added 10 points to go along with five rebounds.

The Hawks used a 13-2 run to take their first lead of the game, 52-51 five and a half minutes into the second half. 

Illinois Tech built up a seven-point lead with just over nine minutes to play before the Falcons battled back. Concordia Wisconsin finished off a 17-8 run with 2:29 to play to regain the lead, 78-76. 

The teams traded baskets before Otis Reale made the back-end of a pair of free throws to put the Hawks up 81-80 with a 1:02 remaining. A steal by Reale on the next Falcons' possession brought him to the free throw line after he was immediately fouled. Reale sank the pair of free throws to put the Hawks up 83-80. The Hawks followed that sequence up with another steal, this time Caden Gigstad took the ball away from the Falcons and fed Dugalic, who was fouled with 14 seconds remaining. He split the pair of free throws, but pushed the Hawks lead to 84-80. The Falcons cut the deficit to 84-82 after a Johnson layup with seven seconds remaining, but Gigstad was fouled on the inbound play, and converted both free throws to complete the final score, 86-82.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Dugalic finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds.
• Reale had 17 points, four rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
• Gigstad had 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
• Schmitz had 14 points to go along with six rebounds.

Falcons Watch

• Johnson led the Falcons with 27 points to go along with 11 rebounds and two steals.
• Brandon Keller added 14 points and paced the Falcons with 16 rebounds.
• Joey Zietlow finished with 10 points, four rebounds and added three blocks and two steals.

Inside the Box Score

• The Hawks finished shooting 38.5% from three-point range (5/13), while the Falcons finished at 31.8% (7/22).
• The Hawks committied 18 fouls to the Falcons 21.
• Both teams shot 68% from the free throw stripe.
• Schmitz was the minutes leader for the Hawks, playing 36 minutes. Johnson played 33 minutes for the Falcons.

Up Next

• After playing their first home game since December 4th, the Scarlet Hawks hit the road again for a three-game swing, starting at Benedictine Wednesday night, January 19th at 7pm in a NACC matchup.