Aundre Jackson, Clayton Custer lead Loyola past Illinois State, 68-61

NORMAL, Ill. — Aundre Jackson and Clayton Custer combined to score 16 of their 29 points in the final seven minutes to help Loyola beat Illinois State 68-61 on Wednesday night.

Jackson finished with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Custer added 14 points, going 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the last 26 seconds. Marques Townes had 12 points and Bruno Skokna scored 11 for Loyola (13-4, 3-2 Missouri Valley). The Ramblers snapped a six-game skid against Illinois State (9-8, 3-2).

Phil Fayne scored seven straight points to give the Redbirds a 46-45 lead — their first since 2-0 — with seven minutes left. Custer made two free throws and then hit a 3 to spark a 12-2 run that gave the Ramblers a nine-point lead with three minutes to go. They made their last five field-goal attempts and hit 6 of 6 free throws in the closing seconds to seal it.

Fayne led the Redbirds with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Milik Yarbrough added 13 points and eight assists, but committed nine of Illinois State’s 18 turnovers.

Loyola made 23 of 44 (52 percent) from the field, hit 16 of 18 from the free-throw line and scored 25 points off turnovers.