by Eric Willuweit

Thousand Oaks, Calif. – Otis Reale scored 36 points, Ahmad Muhammad added 21 points off the bench, and the Illinois Tech men's basketball team opened the 2022-23 campaign with a 98-89 road victory at Cal Lutheran. The Scarlet Hawks open the season 1-0. The Kingsmen open at 0-1.

The Scarlet Hawks were hot from the field, shooting just under 60%. The Hawks held a 12-point advantage in the paint and outscored the Kingsmen on fast break points 23-8.

First Half

Cal Lutheran opened the game with a 6-0 lead and had a 20-13 advantage midway through the first half. The Scarlet Hawks countered with a 14-5 run, taking their first lead of the game at 27-25 with 6:32 remaining in the first half.

The Hawks built up a 5-point lead with 4:11 remaining before closing out the half with a 41-38 lead. Reale finished the first half with 20 points, including 2-3 from three-point range and 8-9 from the free throw line.

Second Half

Cal Lutheran opened the second half with three tie scores and one lead change in their favor four and a half minutes in the half. It would be the last time the Kingsmen would catch the Hawks.

Illinois Tech used a game best 9-0 run to take a 61-52 lead at the 13:53 mark. First-year player Garrison Carter opened the run with a three-pointer and closed out the run with rebound and layup basket.

Cal Lutheran responded with a 16-8 run to pull within one point at 69-68 with 7:22 remaining. But the Kingsmen would not get any closer, as the Scarlet Hawks would counter with a 22-10 run to build their largest lead of the game at 13 points with 1:08 remaining. Muhammad hit back-to-back three-pointers to start the run, scoring 12 points during the stretch to put the game out of reach.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Reale with 36 points, including 12-19 from the field and 10-11 from the free throw line
• Muhammad with 21 points, shooting 9-13 from the field for 69%.
• Carter added 14 points in his collegiate debut.
• Milos Dugalic scored 11 points and led the team with 12 rebounds and 5 assists.

 Kingsmen Watch

• Devon Lewis led Cal Lutheran with 20 points.
• Brock Susko added 15 points and 7 rebounds.

Inside the Box Score

• The Hawks shot 44% from three-point range on 7-16 shooting. The Kingsmen also finished at 44% from three (8-18). 
• The Scarlet Hawks shot 59.6% from the field; Cal Lutheran shot 44.6%
• Illinois Tech committed 25 fouls; the Kingsmen had 24 fouls.
• Illinois Tech was 23-27 from the free-throw line for 85%. Cal Lutheran was 23-31 (74%).
• Reale was the minutes leader for the Hawks with 34 minutes. Lewis played 32 minutes for the Kingsmen.

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks continue their California trip on Saturday, November 12, when they head to Pasadena to take on the Cal Tech Beavers at 6:00 PM CT in a non-conference matchup.