NORMAL—Osiris Eldridge scored 17 points to lead five Illinois State players in double figures as the Redbirds rallied to defeat Creighton 71-62 Wednesday night.Dinma Odiakosa had 13 points and 11 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season, for Illinois State (14-5, 5-3 Missouri Valley).Creighton (9-10, 4-4) scored the first 11 points of the game, and led 17-5 before the Redbirds scored the next 10 points. The Bluejays pushed the lead back to 38-28 by halftime, but Illinois State began the second half with a 17-6 run to take their first lead at 45-44.Justin Clark scored 13 points and Tony Lewis and Lloyd Phillips 12 each for Illinois State. The five in double figures accounted for all but four of the Redbirds’ points.Kenny Lawson Jr. and Darryl Ashford led the Bluejays with 11 points each, and Justin Carter grabbed 11 rebounds.
————————————————————-
CARBONDALE—Sam Maniscalco scored 21 points and Will Egolf had a double-double as Bradley nearly coughed up a 15-point lead but held on to edge Southern Illinois 57-55 on Wednesday night.Egolf had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Braves (9-9, 4-4 Missouri Valley), who put together their first two-game winning streak since Nov. 28 and Dec. 2.Tony Freeman led the Salukis (10-7, 3-5) with 15 points. Anthony Booker had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Carlton Fay added 14 points.Bradley rocketed to a 15-0 lead as the Salukis missed their first eight shots. But Southern Illinois responded, trimming the deficit to 21-18 with 5:11 left in the first half.Fay and Kendal Brown-Surles combined for seven consecutive points to give Southern Illinois its first lead at 55-54 with 2:31 to go. But Maniscalco hit three free throws in the final minute to rescue Bradley.
————————————————————-
TOLEDO—Xavier Silas scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and Northern Illinois held off Toledo in a 58-54 win on Wednesday night.Darion Anderson had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies (8-8, 4-0 Mid-American Conference), who extended their winning streak to six games – the school’s longest run since the 1995-1996 season.It’s also the first time NIU has gone 4-0 in the conference.Silas, who went 6-for-14 from the floor and 3-for-6 from 3-point range, broke a 44-44 tie on his 3-pointer with 5:56 left in the second half. The Huskies pushed their margin to eight points on Lee Fisher’s jumper more than 3 minutes later.The Rockets (3-15, 0-4) cut Northern Illinois’ advantage to 56-54 with 8 seconds left. But Toledo got no closer as Anderson hit two free throws to give the Huskies enough cushion.Malcolm Griffin led Toledo with 13 points.