Thursday, December 22, 2016

Chicago State Claims 74-65 Win Over SE Missouri at Las Vegas Classic

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Chicago State men's basketball snapped a five-game losing streak here this afternoon after claiming a 74-65 victory over Southeast Missouri State in the third contest for both teams in the 2016 Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic at Orleans Arena.

The win also marked the 50th for seventh-year head coach Tracy Dildy as he surpassed former CSU bench boss Bob Hallberg as the school's all-time leader in Division I career coaching victories.

The Green and White took an early 5-0 advantage on a three-pointer from junior Montana Byrd (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) at the 16:51 mark of the first half. SEMO later snapped a 16-16 tie with an 8-4 scoring drive in two minutes to gain a 24-20 lead with 5:11 to go in the stanza following a layup from Antonius Cleveland. CSU then bounced back as it posted a 16-6 run in the final four minutes that included five points from sophomore Fred Sims, Jr. (Chicago, Ill./North Lawndale) to head into halftime with a 36-30 leading margin.

In the first two-plus minutes of the second half, the Redhawks scored eight of the next 10 points to even the score at 38-38 that concluded with a three-point play by Denzel Mahoney at 17:26. After Daniel Simmons drained a three-pointer at the 11:17 mark to tie the game at 51-51, the Cougars would go on to outscore SEMO by a 23-14 margin in the final 10 minutes to earn the victory.

CSU (4-9) had three players score in double figures for the game with senior Trayvon Palmer (Milwaukee, Wis./Brown Deer) recording his fifth double-double of the season as he tallied 18 points and tied a season high with 15 rebounds. Palmer shot 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 at the free throw line.

Junior Deionte Simmons (Detroit, Mich./Lewisville (Texas)) scored a season-best 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and Sims, Jr. also finished with 17 points and posted six boards for the Green and White.

Cleveland led Southeast Missouri (4-9) with a game-high 26 points while shooting 12-of-16 from the free throw line and 6-of-11 from the field.

The Cougars will face the winner of the Troy-Cornell contest in their final contest of the Las Vegas Classic tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 p.m.

BOX SCORE

CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

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