Injury Bug Continues to Hamper Chicago State Men’s Basketball

CHICAGO – The injury bug has continued to hamper the Chicago State University men's basketball team during the 2017-18 season.

Before the season starts, the Green and White lost a potential starter in junior guard Delundre Dixon (Rockford, Ill./Auburn), who started over half the games a year ago.

Following the loss of Dixon, CSU then lost a promising newcomer in junior forward John Joyce (Chicago, Ill./Taft) to a potentially career-ending back injury after the first couple of games were played in November.

During this season, The Cougars have dealt with a number of different injuries which included losing sophomore starting center Patrick Szpir (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) at the beginning of this calendar year after injuring the same foot that he hurt the previous season. CSU just got back the team's leading scorer in junior guard Fred Sims Jr. back into action last week after he has battled with nagging knee injuries all season.

Chicago State has now been dealt another blow with added two more injured players to the list with senior forward/center Deionte Simmons (Detroit, Mich./Lewisville (Texas)) and redshirt freshman guard Travon Bell (Chicago, Ill./Mather) both dealing with ankle injuries that may cause them to miss the rest of the season. Simmons is the team's leading rebounder and ranks second in scoring, while Bell has been a key contributor off the bench this season.

The Cougars have faced a lot of adversity this season, but they continue to fight and compete in WAC play as they will battle the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in its road finale later tonight at 7 p.m. live on ESPN 3.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Deionte Simmons: F/C; 6' 8"; Senior

#23 Patrick Szpir: F/C; 6' 9"; Sophomore

#30 Travon Bell: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

#3 Deionte Simmons
: 6' 8"; Senior
: F/C

#23 Patrick Szpir
: 6' 9"; Sophomore
: F/C

#30 Travon Bell
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

#3 Deionte Simmons

#23 Patrick Szpir

#30 Travon Bell

Players Mentioned

#3 Deionte Simmons

#23 Patrick Szpir

#30 Travon Bell