Jequan Pegeese (Jr.-Beloit, Wis.) scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half and the Lakeland University men's basketball team rallied to defeat Illinois Institute of Technology 73-67 Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies came back from a 12-point deficit early in the second half to win their fourth straight game and improve to 5-4 overall on the season. Lakeland also is now 3-1 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference heading into final exams week.

The Muskies won despite shooting just 35.7%, making 20 of 56 shots, and also being outrebounded 41-37. Lakeland made a living at the free throw line, hitting 25 of 36 from the stripe (69.4%), made 8 of 19 from three-point range, and committed just six turnovers while taking advantage of 17 Illinois Tech miscues.

The Scarlet Hawks (1-7 overall, 1-4 NACC) took their largest lead at 43-31 less than a minute into the second half and still led by nine points three minutes later when the Muskies made their move. Lakeland went on a 16-1 run, holding IIT without a field goal for six minutes.

Pegeese scored seven points in the spurt and the Muskies never trailed again after taking the lead on two free throws by Sam Kaminski (Sr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) with 13 minutes, 19 seconds to play. Lakeland led by as many as eight points late but Illinois Tech rallied back to within two points after a layup by Miles Curry made it 69-67 with 2:48 left, but Pegeese split two free throws and then banked in a fallaway 17-foot jumper at the end of the shot clock for a 72-67 lead in the final minute.

The Muskies hung around after Illinois Tech got off to a good start, taking an early 10-3 lead and setting the pace much of the first half. IIT also finished the opening half on a 14-2 run, capped by Ahmad Muhammad making three free throws with no time left after being fouled while attempting a halfcourt shot just before the buzzer.

Carlos Campos (Sr.-Janesville, Wis.) scored 12 points and Tony White (Fr.-New Orleans, La.) added 10 points off the bench as the Muskies finished with a 23-12 advantage in bench points. Zach Hasenstein (Jr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) also scored nine points and added seven rebounds.

Illinois Tech's Max Hisatake was a handful for the Muskies all game, finishing with 25 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out with 3:47 left in the game. Miles Curry added 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Scarlet Hawks, who shot 59.3% in the first half (16 of 27) before hitting only 9 of 26 (34.6%) in the second half to finish at 47.2% for the game.

Lakeland will return to play next Friday when it hosts Edgewood College at 7 p.m.