Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks (4-16 overall, 3-10 NACC)
at Lakeland University Muskies (5-14 overall, 3-9 NACC)
Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024Â Â 7:15 p.m.
Woltzen Gymnasium
Lakeland/IIT MBB Game Notes  PDF
A rare weeknight basketball doubleheader concludes with the Lakeland University men's basketball team hosting Illinois Institute of Technology at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
Broadcast Information:
Live video & live statistics:Â
http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive. Andy Damp is again serving as the Voice of the Muskies calling the play-by-play for Lakeland home basketball games this year.
Series history:Â 14th meeting, Lakeland leads 7-6
The Muskies and Illinois Institute of Technology are meeting for the first and only time this season. The teams' last meeting was here at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium and it was a dandy, with Lakeland rallying for an 81-79 victory Jan. 28, 2023 as
Kai Buliox scored the winning three-point play with six seconds left. The Muskies completed an improbable rally from down six points with 15 seconds left, scoring nine points over eight seconds to get the win. Illinois Tech's last win in the series came earlier last season with a 102-75 win at home in Chicago three weeks earlier as the Scarlet Hawks shot 53.3% for the game and hit 17 of 33 three-point tries. IIT has won five of eight meetings between the teams since it joined the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference for the 2018-19 season. The series dates back to Feb. 9, 1973, when Lakeland won the first meeting 93-67 at the old Armory in downtown Sheboygan.
Lakeland last time out: Lost at Benedictine 60-54 Saturday
The Muskies gave the Eagles a battle on the road in Lisle, Ill., but fell as Benedictine scored the final six points of the game to avenge a loss to Lakeland in December. Andrew Stokes scored the go-ahead basket with 1:43 left for the Eagles and the Muskies went scoreless the final 2:38 and dropped their seventh straight game since handling Benedictine at home Dec. 28.
Cam Jaeger scored 18 points and
Isaiah Hammond added 12 points and eight rebounds in Lakeland's lowest-scoring game of the season, a game where both teams struggled to score with the Muskies shooting 29.0% and Benedictine finishing at 32.4%. Jaeger also made four three-pointers, giving him 180 career treys and moving into fourth on Lakeland's all-time list for threes made.
Illinois Tech last time out: Lost at MSOE 96-75 Saturday
The Scarlet Hawks were unable to slow down the Raiders in Milwaukee, as MSOE shot 56.4% for the game, including 62.1% in the first half in taking a 46-29 halftime lead. IIT shot a respectable 44.6%, made 10 of 26 from three-point range and outrebounded the Engineers, but also committed 26 turnovers, its second-highest total of the season. Caden Gigstad scored 18 points, Dario Biaggi totaled 16 and Garrison Carter added 14, and the trio also combined for nine made three-pointers.
About the Scarlet Hawks: It's been a rough last two months for IIT, which in its game prior to playing MSOE snapped an 11-game losing streak with an 81-69 victory at Aurora. Illinois Tech has lost a number of close games, with six losses by 10 points or less, and the Scarlet Hawks are the only NACC team to pin a loss on league-leading St. Norbert so far, rolling past the Green Knights 92-76 on the road back in November. IIT finished 11-15 a year ago and advanced to the NACC Tournament, bowing out to Benedictine in the first round.
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