Johnson's clutch free throws lift Illinois State

Dom Johnson hit 2 free throws with 25 seconds left to give Illinois State a 64-63 victory over host Missouri State on Saturday.

Johnson finished with 23 as Illinois State (16-6, 8-3 Missouri Valley) held off Missouri State (11-12, 4-7).

A 3-pointer by Spencer Laurie put Missouri State up 61-60 with 1:49 remaining, but Johnson scored with 1:01 left to put Illinois State up 62-61.

Missouri State had the ball with 15.9 seconds left but a drive and shot by Cooks bounced off the backboard as time expired.

Osiris Eldridge had 17 for Illinois State and Anthony Slack had 12 rebounds.

Dale Lamberth led Missouri State with 20 and Deven Mitchell had 13.

UIC 86, Youngstown St. 72: Josh Mayo scored 21 points to help host Illinois-Chicago beat Youngstown State in Horizon League play.

Mayo was 4-for-5 from 3-point range to improve his national-best 3-point percentage to 55.6 percent.

Robert Kreps added 15 points for the Flames (12-10, 6-5). Karl White Jr. had 11 points, and Scott VanderMeer finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Vytas Sulskis led Youngstown State (7-15, 3-9) with 18 points, and Jack Liles had 16.

Loyola 65, Cleveland St. 53:ŒTracy Robinson had a career-high 23 points to lead Loyola past Horizon League foe Cleveland State.

The host Ramblers (9-13, 5-7 Horizon League) led all the way and won their third in a row.

The Vikings (14-9, 7-4 Horizon League) rallied in the second half as Loyola got into foul trouble.

The loss was the fourth in a row for the slumping Vikings, who had opened their league play with seven consecutive victories.

J'Nathan Bullock led Cleveland State with 16 points. J.R. Blount had 12 for Loyola.

Ohio 73, NIU 55: Senior Leon Williams scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds to lead Ohio in a 73-55 win over host Northern Illinois.

Sean Smith scored 19 points and was 3-for-3 from the free throw line for Nothern Illinois (5-15, 2-6). Darion Anderson had 16 points, including 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

Jerome Tillman scored 17 points, including 3 assists, on 7-for-10 shooting for the Bobcats (15-6, 6-2 Mid-American).

Ohio led 40-20 at the half.

Chicago St. 91, Texas-Pan American 82:ŒDavid Holston hit seven 3-pointers and scored 39 points to lead Chicago State past Texas-Pan American.

Chicago State (9-15) had little trouble scoring on UTPA (14-11), shooting 70 percent from the field. Holston was 15-of-22, including 7-of-12 from 3-point range. The other four starters combined to go 12-for-16 from the field.

Chidozie Chukwumah hit all 6 of his shots off the bench for Chicago State to finish with 15 points and 7 assists. John Cantrell also scored 15 on 7-of-9 shooting.

Paul Stoll led UTPA with 26 points, including 6-of-9 on 3-pointers. He also finished with 8 assists and 3 steals.

Bradley 72, Evansville 59: Daniel Ruffin sank five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead Bradley past host Evansville.

Ruffin also led Bradley (13-10, 6-5) with 6 assists in the Missouri Valley Conference win.

Evansville (6-15, 1-10) jumped out to an early lead, but the Braves started to take control after Andrew Warren hit 2 free throws to put Bradley up 15-14 with 7:42 left in the first half.

Bradley then went on a 9-2 run and ended the half with a 35-19 lead. Evansville never got closer than 10 points in the second half.

Warren finished with 13 points for Bradley, and Sam Maniscalo added 11 points and 5 assists.

Shy Ely led the Purple Aces with 22 points and 7 rebounds.

N. Iowa 68, S. Illinois 63: Adam Koch and Travis Brown both scored 14 points and host Northern Iowa beat Southern Illinois for its fourth win in five games.

Jordan Eglseder added 11 for the Panthers (14-8, 6-5 MVC), who have beaten Southern Illinois five straight times at home.

Randal Falker had a game-high 21 points to lead Southern Illinois (11-11, 6-5), which had won four of its last five.

W. Illinois 80, S. Utah 74:ŒDavid Jackson scored all 16 of his points in the second half to help host Western Illinois past Southern Utah.

Jackson converted a 3-point play with 6:02 left to give the Leathernecks (11-11, 6-5 Summit League) the lead for good at 65-62.

Jerryck Owens-Murrey and David DuBois added 13 points each for Western Illinois. Geoff Payne led the Thunderbirds (5-17, 3-8) with 17 points.

Samford 65, E. Illinois 52: Travis Peterson scored a season-high 24 points in leading host Samford by Eastern Illinois.

Samford (11-12, 8-7 Ohio Valley Conference) earned back-to-back victories for the first time since Dec. 15.

Eastern Illinois (4-18, 3-11) had its own two-game winning streak snapped. Jon'Tee Willhite led the Panthers with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting.