Box Score The Chicago State men's basketball team (6-15, 2-6 Western Athletic Conference) dropped a 79-65 decision to Dixie State (11-10, 4-4) Saturday afternoon at the Jones Convocation Center in Chicago. The Cougars fell behind following an early Trailblazers run and came back from 17-point deficits on two occasions and trailed by just five, 73-65, with under five minutes remaining in the game but the DSU closed the game with an 11-2 run for the win.
Coreyoun Rushin led three Cougars who scored in doubles figures with 17 points, followed by
Jahsean Corbett with 16 and
Dominique Alexander with 10. Rushin and Corbett tied for high rebounding honors with seven each.
Kedrick Green provided a spark off the bench for CSU. Green hadn't played in the previous seven games or the first half against Dixie State but scored nine second-half points in 11 minutes to help the Cougars comeback.
Dixie State set the tone early, opening the game with a three and maintaining an early lead until Alexander reeled off five straight points to tie the game 7-7 at the 15-minute mark. The Cougars took their first lead following a
Bryce Johnson layup to go up two, 9-7, then, following a Trailblazers basket, Johnson converted a three for CSU's largest lead of the first half. At that point, Dixie State went on a 13-2 run and turned the three-point deficit into an eight-point lead, 22-14, with 9:07 left in the first half.
Coreyoun Rushin scored four of his 11 first-half points on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to six, 22-16, but the Trailblazers reeled off five straight to push the CSU deficit to 11. Alexander converted a layup and Rushin a dunk to pull within seven, 27-20, before DSU put up another run, this time outscoring the Cougars 11-2 over the next three minutes and the lead was 16, 38-22, with 3:08 until half. Chicago State outscored Dixie State 9-5 in the final three minutes of the half but trailed 43-31 after the first 20 minutes.
Dixie State extended its 12-point halftime lead to 17 by the 15-minute mark of the second half for the next two minutes. At that point,
Jahsean Corbett took over the scoring for the Cougars, scoring 10 consecutive points as part of a 12-2 CSU run to cut the margin to five, 57-52, with just over 10 minutes to play. The Trailblazers countered with a 7-0 run before Green and Rushin converted a three pointer and layup, respectively to pull back within seven. Following a pair of DSU free throws pushed the lead back to nine, Green made four consecutive from the charity stripe to cut the margin to five. Dixie State scored and Corbett followed with a layup and, with the margin once again five, 68-63, the Trailblazers closed the game with an 11-2 run for the 79-65 victory.
Next up, the Cougars are scheduled for a two-game Texas road trip, taking on Abilene Christian on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. then at Tarleton State Saturday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.
About Chicago State
Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. In 1991, the Chicago State women's tennis team became the first all-black college team to amass an unbeaten season at the NCAA level. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title, also making an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet. Chicago State volleyball recorded a historic season in 2021, with Yanlis Feliz becoming CSU's first volleyball All-American and head coach Tony Trifonov earning selection as WAC Coach of the Year.
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