ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst University men's basketball team held off a late rally from Millikin University, topping the Big Blue 81-79 at R.A. Faganel Hall.
 
The win was the Bluejays' fourth consecutive victory, upping the team's record to 4-1 overall. Millikin fell to 1-9 on the season.
 
Elmhurst came out sluggish in the opening half of play as Millikin grabbed a nine-point lead just nine minutes into the contest. The Bluejays used a 14-4 run to take their first lead of the game after a Hunter Merritt three-pointer with seven minutes remaining. Millikin scored the next five points to reestablish a four-point cushion, but the Bluejays closed the half on a 9-2 run to carry a 33-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Elmhurst came storming out in the second half, turning a three-point lead into a 20-point cushion by starting the first eight minutes of action on a 23-6 run. The Big Blue slowly chipped their way back into the contest., cutting the deficit in half to trail by 10 with eight minutes remaining. The Bluejays led by 11 points with 2:21 left, but Millikin would not go away, knocking down three three-pointers, and drawing fouls on a pair of three-point attempts. Elmhurst also struggled to put the game away from the foul line, missing six free throws in the final two minutes. Millikin pulled to within a point at 80-79 with six seconds left before Ocean Johnson split a pair of free throws with five seconds left. Millikin's last second three-point attempt was off target and Elmhurst escaped with the two-point win.
 
The Bluejays finished the game shooting 47.6 percent (30-of-63) from the floor and 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from beyond the arc. Elmhurst struggled from the foul line, hitting only 13-of-27 free throw attempts (48.1 percent). The Bluejays held a big advantage in the paint, outscoring Millikin 40-24 inside and outrebounding the Big Blue 42-37.
 
Dominic Genco led Elmhurst in the victory, finishing with 19 points and five rebounds while shooting 8-of-15 from the floor. Johnson added 13 points while Wesley Hooker came off the bench to score 12. Militello finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds while Lavon Thomas totaled seven points and seven boards for the Bluejays.
 
Millikin finished the game shooting 42.9 percent (27-of-63) from the field, including 46.7 percent (14-of-30) from downtown. The Big Blue connected on 9-of-20 three-point attempts in the second half. Calvin Fisher led the way for Millikin with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Fisher hit 6-of-13 three-point attempts in the loss. Scott Gowan came off the bench to score 20 while Jake Hampton added 11 points for the Big Blue.
 
Elmhurst plays at Augustana College on February 23