St. Thomas, VI (SportsNetwork.com) - DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell poured in 20 points as the Illinois State Redbirds defeated the Weber State Wildcats, 73-64, in the Paradise Jam at the Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas.

Akoon-Purcell paced ISU (1-1) on the glass with seven boards, while Daishon Knight contributed 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. Reggie Lynch added 12 points for the Redbirds, who will go on to face Old Dominion in the next stage of the tournament.

Joel Bolomboy nearly recorded a double-double for the Wildcats (1-2) with 20 points and nine rebounds. Richaud Gittens scored 12 points and Jeremy Senglin had 10. Senglin also committed seven of WSU's 18 turnovers.

ISU took a commanding, 44-28 lead into the intermission after it knocked down 53.1 percent of its field goal tries, including a 5-of-8 clip from 3-point range in the first half. The Wildcats were limited to 41.2 percent efficiency from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of the contest.

WSU attempted to rally back in the second half behind a 13-of-15 performance at the charity stripe. Although the Redbirds cooled off to sink only 38.7 percent of their shots from the floor and missed all seven of their tries from beyond the arc in the second stanza, they managed to hang on for the nine- point decision.

ISU enjoyed a 34-27 edge in the rebounding battle.