Illinois St. 59, Louisiana-Monroe 55

Published Nov. 27, 2010 9:41 p.m. ET

foxsports

Illinois State built up a 20-point first-half lead, then held on down the stretch to defeat Louisiana-Monroe 59-55 Saturday night in the Global Sports Roundball Classic.

Austin Hill had 16 points and Jackie Carmichael 14 for the Redbirds (4-1), who led 29-9 with 3:16 left in the first half.

Louisiana-Monroe (2-4) pulled within 33-18 by halftime, then used a 13-2 run early in the second half to pull within 37-31. The Warhawks cut the deficit to two points on a 3-pointer by Fred Brown with 2:33 left in the game, but couldn't get any closer. They had the ball, trailing 56-54 with 20 seconds remaining, but Brown missed on a jump shot and Illinois State closed it out at the free-throw line.

Lawrence Gilbert had 17 points and Brown 13 for Louisiana-Monroe, which made 9 of 21 3-pointers but only 6 of 11 free throws.

The Redbirds, conversely, were 17 for 24 at the line, but 2 for 14 from long range.