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Redbird Arena - 2-16-2019 Bradley at Illinois State The Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball outcomes have been absolutely unpredictable this season.  A few games back, Illinois State defeated Loyola to take the lead in the conference.  Last night they lost to a struggling Bradley team.  Actually, Bradley has been staging a bit of a comeback the last few seasons, albeit a slow one.  But, nothing seems to happen overnight with maybe the exception of the Loyola Rambler cinderella team last season...Devine Intervention? The game has always been a rivalry, but in recent years it's been beat up.  This game, 9000 people filed in to the 'nest' to watch the game.  Some accounts say the contingent of Braves fans that travelled 40 miles from Peoria were more energized.  Maybe so, so much red in Redbird that I couldn't tell the fans apart by just looking up.  Still, the rivalry wasn't like it was in its heydays a dozen plus years ago when the th...

Well, starting off with the positive is the Star Spangled Banner was adequately performed last night at the start of the game.  It wasn't or even attempted to be overdone!  Not a first, but pleasantly refreshing. From there, depending on the team you follow or the perspective you have - the rest of the night was either really good, or not so good.  Valpo walked on to something like a 14 - 0 run to start the game.  The Redbirds finally got it going in the 4th quarter and cut a 23 point deficit to 7 but it wasn't enough to change the momentum.  The Crusaders picked back up and sharpened their swords to take the score to a 16 point lead as the buzzer ended the bloodshed Not a huge gallery this game, but some pretty cool under the bucket shots are here .

A fairly uneventful first half led to a 2nd half full of excitement as the Racers of Murray State visited Redbird Arena to play basketball against the Illinois State Redbirds.  Refs whistles came alive in the 2nd have creating some tension and escalating the level of play.  The Racers at one point mounted a double digit lead of 13.  The lead only changed one time, with the Redbirds giving it up to the Racers.  Late in the game, the Redbirds had trimmed the lead to one possession, but a couple of miscues evaporated the chance of taking the lead back to win the game.  Final score on the board was 78-72.

If you skipped last nights game at Redbird Arena, you missed a good game to watch some of the players that don't dust the floor very often.  Among those was Luke Litwiler, a walk on from Olympia High School who hit 3 points from beyond the arch and narrowly missed a 4th bringing the crowd to their feet!

It's been a very long and sad day for most everyone in Central Illinois today.  Waking up to the news that a small plane crashed a couple miles short of the airport in the dense fog and the suspense till the names of the 7 people killed in the crash was enough to wear one down very early.  Then hearing the names about lunch time, just seemed to take all the wind from the sail.  The dreary day just became gloom. I sit back of the baseline for most every Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball game.  I have been for 15 years.  Knowing that most don't really like a camera in their face, I normally just do my job while keeping my distance.  People see me, I see them, we probably even recognize each other away from the arena.  It was no different with Torrey and Aaron.  I don't remember even getting the chance to say hello to Torrey.  I probably did to Aaron as he would have moved around the arena more.  I don't really recall. With Torre...

Up by double digits or close in the first half, Illinois State men's basketball team gives up the lead in the second half to Indiana State Sycamores.  A late comeback falls short when the 'birds fail to answer a late 10 foot bucket by the Sycamores.  The Redbirds made it to the paint and were looking to get a game tying bucket to force overtime, but the ball was mishandled and lost as the shot was taking shape. See the Normalite Newspapers and Best Look Magazine for pictorial coverage by Alan Look Photography, the Best Look in Sports Action Photography in Bloomington Normal . 20141231 Indiana State at Illinois State basketball photos - Images by Alan Look - Chimper

The Illinois State Redbirds Men's Basketball team lead the University of Tennessee Martin Skyhawks most of the first half.  Seemed like everytime I looked up at the scoreboard it was 22-13.  The Skyhawks got to work and took the lead in the early part of the 2nd half.  Near the 11 minute left mark, the Redbirds began to stage a comeback and at the buzzer were back in the lead shooting down the Skyhawks 65-54.  Justin McCloud broke his game high record with 11 points, Reggie Lynch dropped in with 12. 20141217 UT Martin at Illinois State - Images by Alan Look  - Chimper

The Green Knights of St Norberts jumped out to a small lead, but never led by more than 4 points till Jordan Nelson hit a 2 point jumper to tie the game with 14:12 showing ont the 1st half clock.  That was as close as the game got the rest of the way to the final buzzer.  The next score was a three pointer by Tital Michael Mayberger.  The Titans never relinquished the lead taking the game 84-68 at the end of play.  The Titans will continue to the Sweet Sixteen in a game they will host at Shirk Center on Friday March 14th at 7:30 pm against the Calvin Knights. 20140308 St Norbert at Illinois Wesleyan 2nd Round D3 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament photos - Images by Alan Look  - Chimper -

After taking the CCIW outright with a record of 23-3 in the regular season, the Titans fell flat in the championship game against the Thunder of Wheaton College.  Returning to Shirk Center for Wheaton was Nate Haynes who has played there several times during his high school career at Normal Community. The bucket just seemed to close every time the ball hit the rim or glass when the Titans put up the ball hitting only 23 of 47 shots from the floor and only 15 of 27 free throws.  The Thunder faired better, opening up the hoop for 25 of 45 from the floor and 30 of 33 from the free pass line. Dylan Overstreet led the Titans with 15 points, Tyler Peter for the Thunder with 29.  NCHS product Nate Haynes finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds. 20140301 Wheaton Thunder at Illinois Wesleyan Titans CCIW Mens Basketball Championship photos - Images by Alan Look  - Chimper -

The Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team took an ax to the Indiana State Sycamores in their last regular season home game 77-59 on Wednesday February 26th in Redbird Arena.  Nick Zeisloft started the games scoring with a 3 pointer for the Redbirds.  The Redbirds never trailed, leading by 20 points at one time in the first half and by 19 several others.  Daishon Knight led the points total for the Redbirds with 20.  Reggie Lynch and Zach Lofton each added 16.  Dawon Cummings scored 12 for the Sycamores. 20140226 Indiana State at Illinois State men's basketball photos - Images by Alan Look  - Chimper

The 2nd half of the Bradley-ISU rivalry, dubbed for years now as the war on 74, was at Redbird Arena this season on the evening of Saturday February 15th. A little slower pace than some of the games we've seen this season.  The Redbirds scored first and pulled out to an almost 10 point lead before the Braves closed the gap in the first half.  The second half saw the Redbirds pull away and safely have the game tucked away with at least 2 minutes left to go. 20140215 Bradley at Illinois State - Images by Alan Look  - Chimper

Two Redbirds hit single game individual records last night scoring more points in a game than they had before.  Bobby Hunter put away 19 points and Nick Zeisloft hit the 15 mark as the Redbirds defeated the Bulldogs of Drake University by a score of 75-57.  Drake began substituting players with little time to their credit with over 3 minutes left in the game.  Fan favorite, Matt Stacho - a walk on for Illinois State made an appearance with 2:30 left.  The Redbirds move to a MVC record of 5-5, Drake drops to 3-7. 20140201 Drake at Illinois State Men's Basketball Photos - Images by Alan Look