CHICAGO – The Lakeland University men's basketball team ran into a hot opponent and dropped a 77-60 decision to Illinois Institute of Technology Saturday afternoon in a non-conference game.

The Scarlet Hawks won their sixth straight game and for the 14th time in 16 games, shooting nearly 50% from the field and posting a big rebounding advantage in sending the Muskies to their third straight loss. Lakeland is now 8-14 overall with three regular season games remaining.

Lakeland kept contact for the first 10 minutes, but IIT (16-8 overall) went on an 18-4 run in the middle of the first half to take a 32-19 lead. The Muskies never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way, with the Scarlet Hawks building a 40-25 halftime lead and going ahead by as much as 22 in the second half.

Lakeland shot just 29.4% in the first 20 minutes and finished at 36.5% for the game (23 of 63). The Muskies also were out-rebounded 48-31 and unable to slow down IIT inside, with the hosts posting a 48-16 advantage in points in the paint.

Joshuan McNeal (Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) scored 14 points to lead the offense, with Pat McDonald (So.-Port Washington, Wis.) also scoring 12 and Mark Gryszkiewicz (Sr.-Sussex, Wis.) adding 11 points and eight rebounds.

Samuel Rarick scored 22 points and Max Hisitake added 19 points and 11 boards to lead Illinois Tech, which shot 32 of 68 (48.5%). Jake Digiorgio also added 16 points and 14 rebounds.

The Muskies are back in action Tuesday when they face Wisconsin Lutheran College in their home finale at 7 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.