By: Illinois College was the better team for long stretches of the game against Knox, but a stagnant offense late in the game doomed the Blueboys in a 68-58 loss.
Box Score GALESBURG, Ill. – With the number of young players making up this Illinois College men's basketball roster, the team will have to learn some painful lessons before it moves up in the Midwest Conference standings. Chalk Tuesday night up to an experience that IC will hopefully learn from. Though the Blueboys were in control for long stretches of the game, IC could never deliver the knockout punch and the result was a Knox comeback victory, 68-58, at the Prairie Fire's Memorial Gymnasium. Illinois College drops to 1-5 (0-3 MWC) with the loss.
The offense was carried at different points in the first half by
Mitchell Patterson,
Max Stutsman and
Tim Schappaugh. Trailing 12-8, Patterson personally accounted for six straight points on a nice variety of moves. He first connected on a turnaround jumper in the lane, then scored at the rim on a fast break and ended the run by juking a defender down low and scoring off the pump fake.
Next it was Stutsman's turn. He took a dish from Patterson and canned a short jumper to extend IC out to a 16-12 edge. He then scored on a putback, stepped out for an 18-footer from the elbow extended and capped his hot stretch with a running hook in the lane. After
Cody Hildebrand scored a fast break layup, Knox was forced into a timeout with the Blueboys out in front, 24-18.
Schappaugh kept the Blueboys out in front with seven straight points capped by a three-pointer from the right wing, but Knox ended the half on a 10-1 run, limiting IC to just a single free throw in the final 4:45 leading into the break. The Prairie Fire advantage was 36-34 at the midway point.
When Knox hit its opening shot of the second half, the Prairie Fire had a four-point lead, but Illinois College quickly answered with a 12-2 spell in which
Brandon Fishburn knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game and later had a steal and coast-to-coast layup for the 46-40 edge.
Again Knox was able to use a timeout to put the skids on the Illinois College offense. The Blueboys went nearly six minutes without a point, in which time the Prairie Fire went on an 11-0 run to grab a 51-46 lead before
David Bauer ended it with a rainbow jumper from just outside the foul line. That little jolt of confidence was what IC needed. Stutsman followed the next time down with a short jumper from the wing and Schappaugh fed Fishburn a couple minutes later on a fast break to reestablish a 52-51 lead for the Blueboys.
At that point in the proceedings, the game seemed destined to go down to the wire. Knox had other plans. Over the next four minutes, the Prairie Fire rallied for nine straight points, going up, 60-52, after Cayleb Herrera grabbed an offensive board and scored on a jumper with 3:23 to go. Schappaugh tried to keep the Blueboys in it with a pair of long-balls in the closing stages, but the closest Illinois College could get was four points the rest of the way.
Schappaugh tied for game-high scoring honors on the night with 16, while Patterson had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Stutsman added 10 points and six boards off the bench and Fishburn had 10 points as well.
Illinois College will go for its first road win of the campaign on Saturday when it travels to Ripon. The Blueboys and Redhawks will get underway at approximately 3 p.m. following the end of the women's contest.
