Impressive East St. Louis thumps Auburn

ROCKFORD - East St. Louis was the big name addition to this year's 205 Tip-Off Classic and the Fliers showed why in their season-opener against Auburn.

The Fliers threw down six dunks at East High School, including three impressive slams in a row from Macaleab Rich in the third quarter, to break open a competitive game. Rich's third slam gave the Fliers a 47-30 lead and East St. Louis cruised to a 64-45 win.

East St. Louis won the IHSA Class 3A state title in 2018-2019 and a regional title in 2019-2020. The Fliers' starting lineup featured all five players standing 6-3 or taller. Auburn was able to stand up to the Fliers for two quarters.

Christian Jones, a 6-5 shooting guard, started things off for East St. Louis with a breakaway dunk as the Fliers jumped out to a 14-4 lead. Auburn chipped away behind the play of Robert Chaney. Chaney scored 14 first-half points to pull the Knights to within 31-27. Rich, though, ended the half on a breakaway dunk.

The second half, though, was all East St. Louis. Rich led the Fliers with 17 points. Demarion Brown, a 6-7 center, had 16, and Jones finished with 10.

Chaney was the only Knight to score in double-figures. He finished with 18. Auburn dropped to 1-2.

East St. Louis 64, Rockford Auburn 45
East St. Louis
Player	2s	3s	FT	FTA	Pts
McCline	0	0	0	0	0
Jones	3	0	4	6	10
Canslor	1	1	0	0	5
Johnson	1	0	0	0	2
Falconer	1	0	1	2	3
Bownes	1	0	0	0	2
Bess	0	1	0	0	3
Rich	8	0	1	2	17
Hawkins	1	1	1	2	6
Brown	6	0	4	6	16
Totals	22	3	11	18	64
Rockford Auburn
Player	2s	3s	FT	FTA	Pts
Agee	1	0	0	0	2
Ra. Chaney	0	0	0	0	0
Ro. Chaney	3	3	3	5	18
Harden	2	0	0	0	4
Neal	2	0	0	0	4
Horton	0	0	3	4	3
Horton-Lee	2	0	4	4	8
McKay	0	0	0	0	0
Hannah	0	0	0	0	0
Jones	2	0	2	4	6
Glass	0	0	0	2	0
Totals	12	3	12	19	45
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
East St. Louis	20	13	16	15	64
Auburn	9	18	9	9	45