by Eric Willuweit

Chicago, Ill. – The Illinois Tech men's basketball team jumped out to an 8-0 lead against Dominican, and never looked back, as the Scarlet Hawks defeated the Stars 80-55 Tuesday night at the Keating Sports Center. With the win, the Scarlet Hawks improved to 4-2 in NACC play, and 6-7 overall. The Stars fell to 0-6 in conference and 5-8 overall.

The Scarlet Hawks received double-digit scoring from three starters, with Milos Dugalic leading the way with 22 points to go with his team-leading 18 rebounds. Otis Reale added 18 points and Caden Gigstad 17 points. 

Illinois Tech finished with a 46-32 advantage in points in the paint, and a 19-12 advantage in second-chance points.

First Half (Illinois Tech 45 – Dominican 32)

After the Scarlet Hawks jumped out to an 8-0 lead early in the first half, the Stars battled back to cut their deficit to 4 points at 11-7. That was the closest Dominican would get the rest of the game. The Scarlet Hawks built a 16-point lead at 43-27 at the 2:27 mark of the first half, before finishing the half with a 45-32 advantage. Gigstad lead the Hawks in scoring at the break with 12 points.

Second Half (Illinois Tech 35 – Dominican 23)

The Scarlet Hawks opened the second half with a 9-0 run to boost their lead to 54-32 with 17:27 remaining in the half. The 22-point lead was shaved to a 14-point lead near the 13-minute mark, as Dominican closed to 58-44. The Hawks countered with a 13-5 run with just over five minutes remaining to take control of the game. They eventually built a 28-point advantage before concluding the game with the 25-point margin of victory. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Dugalic with 22 points, 18 rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
• Reale with 18 points, 7 rebounds and a team-leading 5 assists.
• Gigstad with 17 points and 5 rebounds.
• Furkan Mohamed contributed 8 points off the bench, including 2-4 from behind the three-point arc.

Stars Watch

• The Stars had three players with nine points each: Lathan Lewis, Daniel Nennig and Robert Taylor.
• Jacob Riedl added 8 points off the bench.

Inside the Box Score

• The Scarlet Hawks shot 29% from three-point range on 7-24 shooting. The Stars were 4-19 from three-point range for 21%. 
• The Scarlet Hawks shot 49% from the field; Dominican shot 33%
• Illinois Tech committed 16 fouls; the Stars had 11 fouls.
• Illinois Tech was 7-13 from the free-throw line for 54%. Dominican was 9-17 (53%).
• Reale was the minutes leader for the Hawks with 32 minutes. Riedl played 29 minutes for the Stars.

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks hit the western suburbs Thursday night, when they travel to Aurora University to take on the Spartans at 7:00 PM in a NACC matchup.