By: Tim Schappaugh had 22 points on the afternoon, the most scored by a Blueboy player this season.
Box Score RIPON, Wis. – Down by 14 points in the first half, the Illinois College men's basketball team stuck together and was able to come within two points of Ripon College in the second half, but couldn't get over the hump and were defeated, 80-71, on Saturday afternoon in Ripon's Wyman Gymnasium. The Blueboys fall to 1-6 (0-4 Midwest Conference) despite 22 points from
Tim Schappaugh, the most points scored by a Blueboy player this season.
Illinois College came out firing in the early going, taking a 10-5 lead and forcing Ripon into a timeout with four minutes gone. Schappaugh scored off the opening tip before
Max Stutsman rained in two straight three-pointers. Schappaugh ended the opening burst from the Blueboys with another layup. Ripon is one of the favorites in the MWC though, and the Redhawks showed their resolve with an immediate 12-0 run to take a 17-10 lead before
Cody Hildebrand could hit on a layup.
Ty Sabin caused the most problems on the day for the Blueboy defense. The Ripon guard poured in 34 points, scoring 17 on each side of halftime. He hit one of his seven three-pointers to put the Redhawks back out in front, 20-12, and the team soon had their largest lead of the game, 35-21, with 6:59 to go in the first half.
Mitchell Patterson started the IC rally with a three-pointer and an old-fashioned three-point play. His six points and another Schappaugh layup brought the Blueboys back to within six. Then it was
David Bauer's turn. In just over 90 seconds, the freshman splashed three three-pointers in quick succession, the last of which whittled the Ripon lead down to 43-40 with 3:20 remaining in the first half. Each team would go cold after that however, and the Redhawks went into the break holding onto a 45-40 lead.
Brandon Fishburn opened the scoring in the second half with a three-pointer of his own, pulling Illinois College back to within two. The teams would then trade scoring runs, with Ripon opening up a nice cushion only for the Blueboys to rally back into it. The Redhawk lead was still only four as the clock rolled under 10 minutes to play, until Sabin converted a rare four-point play. Ripon soon had the lead back into double-digits and it would stay there until nearly the very end, when a
Brad Herrmann three-pointer in the final 10 seconds brought the Blueboys back to within nine.
Joining Schappaugh in double-figures for IC were Bauer with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. Hildebrand added 11 points and Patterson had 10. Stutsman led the Blueboys with seven rebounds.
Illinois College is back home on Dec. 17 for a 7:30 p.m. contest against St. Norbert that will follow the women's game. The Green Knights come into Wednesday's game at 7-0 and ranked No. 20 in the latest D3Hoops.com poll.
