Illinois State Wins Imagination Bracket, Richmond defeats Charlotte in consolation game

KISSIMMEE, Fla.-Illinois State captured the 2025 Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational Imagination Bracket Title with a 72-65 win over Furman, while Richmond picked up a 71-66 win over the Charlotte 49ers in the consolation bracket at State Farm Fieldhouse, concluding a fantastic two days of basketball, which featured four good basketball games contested between true mid-major programs, with the largest margin of victory being 10 points.

The Redbirds, which returned to four starters and entered the season as the preseason favorite to claim the Missouri Valley Conference title, used their experience and Midwest grit down the stretch in a close game to claim the win over the battle-tested Paladins.

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Illinois State shot the ball well in the second half, using a 57% effort to outscore the Paladins 39-29 in the second half, overcoming what was a 36-33 halftime deficit to come away with the win, improving to 6-2 overall, while Furman saw its three-game winning streak come to an end, falling to 4-4.The title for the Redbirds marked their first in an in-season tournament since the 2010-11 season.

The Redbirds were a team built to adapt, and coach Ryan Pedon’s team showed it could both play up-tempo and in the halfcourt, and offered a variety of scoring options that, if the opposition shut one down, another one always seemingly found a way to emerge.

While Boden Skunberg led the Redbirds in their semifinal win over Charlotte, with 22 points and 10 rebounds, in the championship win it was Imagination Bracket MVP Ty Pence that came up huge for the Redbirds, as he posted a career-high 20 points and 10 boards, and was the player that made key shots down the stretch to help the Redbirds get baskets when they needed them in crucial moments.

The Paladins, who got a career-high matching 26 points from true freshman point guard Alex Wilkins in Thursday’s one-point win over Richmond, saw the talented true freshman point guard pour in 25 more points in Friday’s title game…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/illinois-state-wins-imagination-bracket-002739525.html

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Publish date : 2025-12-01 00:27:00

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