CHICAGO - Junior Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) (Chicago, Ill.) recorded a double-double with game highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds, but the Chicago State men's basketball team were defeated by visiting Olivet Nazarene Thursday night in its return to the Jacoby Dickens Center by a score of 75-68.
The Cougars dropped to 3-6 on the year, while the Tigers improved their season record to 7-5.
Both teams battled through seven ties and six lead changes during the first half before the Cougars utilized an 11-0 run in the middle of the stanza to capture a 33-22 advantage with 4:59 remaining. ONU responded with a 13-2 scoring drive in 4:04 to close within a point (36-35) before heading into intermission.
In the second half, seven lead changes and five ties dictated the play in the first seven minutes until the visitors broke a 49-all tie with an 8-2 run to claim a 57-51 lead at the 8:44 mark following a pair of free throws by senior Josh Bronke. CSU came back with a 9-2 run under two minutes to regain the lead at 60-59 that concluded with senior Brandan Smith (Bolingbrook, IL/Bolingbrook) (Bolingbrook, Ill.) connecting on two free throws at the 6:51 mark. The Tigers finished the game with a 16-8 run in the final six minutes to claim the win.
“We got outplayed tonight by Olivet Nazarene. We need to go back to the drawing board before our next game (at Tulsa),” CSU head coach Benjy Taylor said after the game. “We need some guys to grow for us to in order to improve as a team. I feel that we can be a good team if we bounce back from this at the end of the season.”
Junior Damian Windham (Indianapolis, IN/Indian Hills CC) (Indianapolis, Ind.) nearly tallied a double-double as he posted 12 points and nine rebounds, while junior Christian Wall (New Orleans, LA/John Ehret) (New Orleans, La.) added 11 points with a game-high four assists. Junior Antonio Lofton (Chicago, IL/Parkland College) (Chicago, Ill.) contributed seven points and two steals.
Olivet Nazarene was led by senior Rashad Mitchell with 15 points that included him going 13-of-14 from the free throw line and posting two steals. Junior Nick Klomstand added 12 points with a game-high three blocked shots, freshman Antonio Marshall tallied 11 points, and sophomore Brandon Streets finished with 10 points.
CSU continues HoopTV Las Vegas Classic play Saturday afternoon with a trip to Tulsa to battle the Golden Hurricane at the Donald W. Reynolds Center beginning at 2 p.m.
~ CSU ~
