Deontae Hawkins scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, including a late go-ahead free throw, and Illinois State held off Loyola of Chicago 65-63 on Sunday to win its fourth straight.
The Redbirds missed three straight shots, and the Ramblers one, before Hawkins was fouled by Milton Doyle and hit two free throws with three seconds left. Ben Richardson's 3 at the buzzer rimmed out.
The Redbirds extended a seven-point halftime lead to 11, but the Ramblers closed to 45-40 on Aundre Jackson's layup, tied it at 55 on Doyle's layup, then led 58-57 on Donte Ingram's 3 with 4:53 left. MiKyle McIntosh's back-to-back 3s put the Redbirds back on top, but Doyle's jumper tied it at 63 with 2:04 to go.
McIntosh scored 13 points, Paris Lee hit three 3-pointers and made nine assists, and the Redbirds (23-5, 15-1 Missouri Valley) used 18 assists to score 25 of 53 field goals.
Doyle scored 17 for the Ramblers (17-12, 7-9).
>>Illinois Stops Iowa
Malcom Hill scored 21 points and hauled down eight rebounds and Illinois held on for a 70-66 win over Iowa on Saturday. The Illini took the lead in the final minutes on a Hill layup and fended off several Iowa chances late to win their second true road game of the season.
Michael Finke, Jalen Coleman-Lands and Te'Jon Lucas each scored 12 points for the Illini (15-12, 5-9 Big Ten).
Lucas blocked Jordan Bohannon's go-ahead layup attempt in the final two minutes to protect Illinois' 62-61 lead, and then Coleman-Lands knocked down a corner 3-pointer with 1:32 left.
Peter Jok had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Iowa (14-13, 6-8). The Hawkeyes have lost three straight.
Iowa had plenty of chances late. The Hawkeyes missed five of their six shots in the final 1:45 and had a nearly seven-minute stretch without a field goal earlier in the second half.
Tyler Cook had 14 points and Bohannon added 11 for Iowa.
Illinois returns home on Tuesday to face in-state rival Northwestern, which the Illini knocked off earlier this month for their first road win of the season.
