The Green Bay Phoenix men's basketball team closed out its exhibition schedule with a 79-71 victory over Illinois State on Saturday at the Kress Center, highlighting the university's alumni weekend.

 

The victory marked Green Bay's lone win in three exhibition games, finishing the preseason 1-2 after losses to Wisconsin and Marquette. All three exhibition contests were played at the Kress Center.

 

De Pere native Johnny Kinziger returned to his hometown area with Illinois State, leading the Redbirds with 14 points and five assists.

 

Green Bay had five players score in double figures, led by Ne'quan Brown with 22 points and seven rebounds. Ahmere Carson added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Isaiah Sutherland, Marcus Hall and Orlando Lovejoy each contributed 10 points.

 

The Phoenix jumped out to an early 18-5 lead before Illinois State cut the deficit to 37-33 at halftime.

 

The Redbirds battled back to tie the game multiple times in the second half, but Green Bay never surrendered the lead. A late 6-0 run, capped by a Hall three-pointer, pushed the Phoenix ahead 68-59 with 2:22 remaining.

 

Green Bay connected on nine of its 24 three-point attempts and forced 14 Illinois State turnovers while committing just nine.

 

The Phoenix now turn their attention to the regular season, opening Monday, Nov. 2, against Division III Lawrence University at the Kress Center.

 

Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.