Dec. 2, 2006
Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State went on a 19-2 run to open the second half en route to an 86-61 win over UT Arlington at the Redbird Arena Saturday evening.
Illinois State (5-2) won its fifth straight game while UT Arlington (3-3) lost its second straight. The Redbirds canned an arena record 14 3-pointers while UTA was held 20 points below their season average of 81.6 per game.
Levi Dyer led ISU's balanced attack with 17 points. Osiris Eldridge chipped in 14 points, Domintrix Johnson and Roberto Fortes added 13 each and Anthony Slack scored 10. UT Arlington was led in scoring by sophomore guard Brandon Long scored 15 of his a career-high 17 points in the second half. Sophomore forward Anthony Vereen also had 17 points for the Mavs.
Illinois State broke the game open to begin the second half with the decisive run. Johnson, Forbes and Eldridge hit 3-pointers during the stretch that extended the lead to 24 points, 55-31, after Eldridge's 3-pointer with 14:40 left in the game.
Both teams started the game playing sluggish basketball. The two teams combined for 13 turnovers (ISU six and UTA seven) in the first 5:47 of the game.
UT Arlington stayed close despite the turnovers. A 3-pointer by Tommy Moffitt tied the game at 16-16 with 11:20 to play in the first half, but Illinois State kicked it into gear with three-pointers by Richardson, Eldridge and Fortes over the next four minutes gave ISU a 25-19 lead. The lead swelled to 10 point, 31-21, on a Johnson 3-pointer before UTA chipped away at the deficit. A Long jumper with 1:14 left in the half cut the lead to 33-29, but Dyer canned the Redbirds' eighth 3-pointer of the half to stretch the lead to 36-29 at halftime.
UT Arlington return to action Monday when they travel to Western Illinois for an 8 p.m. tip off.
NOTES: Illinois State's 14 3-pointers ties for second most in a single game in program history... UTA's Matt Read recorded a career-high with three rebounds... UTA falls to 1-16 all-time against teams from the Missouri Valley Conference... Long's career-high points came in his return to his native Illinois. Long played his prep basketball at Thorton High School in Harvey, Ill., near Chicago.
utamavs.com
