Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. — Osiris Eldridge was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line en route to a team-high 20 points, and four other Redbirds scored in double figures in Illinois State’s 79-66 win over Norfolk State in the first game of the Basketball Travelers Classic on Friday night at Redbird Arena.
Michael Deloach (Rocky Mount, N.C.) matched his career high with 32 points on 10-of-20 shooting for the Spartans (1-3), who dropped their second straight game.
Both teams struggled at times offensively, but the host Redbirds (4-0) shot 27-of-32 (84 percent) from the charity stripe and outrebounded the Spartans 49-33. Eighteen of ISU’s rebounds came on the offensive end, leading to 17 second-chance points.
NSU used an 8-0 run midway through the first half, capped by an Aleek Pauline (Jamaica, N.Y.) jumper, to take its only lead of the game, at 15-13. But ISU outscored the Spartans 20-9 over the next eight minutes to take a nine-point lead, at 33-24, with two and a half minutes left before halftime.
Spartan forward Kyle O'Quinn (Jamaica, N.Y.) hit two early second-half 3-pointers to bring NSU within 43-40 with 15:20 remaining in the game. But the Redbirds went on a 13-3 run, fueled by seven points from Eldridge, to take a 56-43 edge with 10:24 left in the contest. ISU led by at least seven the rest of the way.
Lloyd Phillips added 18 points, Kellen Thornton and Dinma Odiakosa scored 11 each, and Tony Lewis chipped in 10 for the Redbirds, who overcame 39 percent shooting from the floor and 15 percent (4-of-26) accuracy from behind the 3-point arc. Thornton had a game-high 14 rebounds and Lewis added eight.
Deloach was 10-of-20 from the floor, 3-of-7 from 3-point range, and 9-of-11 from the foul line for the Spartans. The 32 points matched his career high set last year against William & Mary.
Rob Hampton (Queens, N.Y.) was the only other NSU player in double figures, with 10 points. He also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Pauline scored eight points and handed out a season-best seven assists.
NSU next faces St. Bonaventure on Saturday at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET in the round-robin event.