By: Down 19 in the first half, Illinois College pulled within eight but could get no closer in a 70-53 loss to Lake Forest.
Box Score LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Held without a point for the first seven minutes of the game, the Illinois College men's basketball team fell behind 16-0 to Lake Forest on Saturday afternoon and could never fully get back into the contest, dropping a 70-53 decision to the Foresters.
Mitchell Patterson and
Brad Herrmann shared team-high scoring honors with 14 points apiece for the Blueboys, who fell to 1-12 (0-8 Midwest Conference).
Oftentimes, slow starts can be traced to poor offensive execution. That wasn't the case for Illinois College, the team just simply couldn't get anything to drop early in the game. The Blueboys missed 12 shots to start the contest, turning the ball over only once in that span, before
Cody Hildebrand made a layup with 12:50 remaining in the first half to make it a 16-2 contest.
Lake Forest would take its largest lead of the game at 28-9 with five minutes to go in the first half before a 13-4 stretch from the Blueboys made the score a more manageable 32-22 at halftime.
A block and rebound from
Blake Shehorn to start the second half led to two Patterson free throws on the other end, trimming the Illinois College deficit down to eight points. That was followed by an immediate 11-0 run from the Foresters however, re-establishing a 19-point lead, 43-24, with 15:23 remaining.
The Blueboys needed to have some success from behind the arc to mount one last comeback attempt. IC attempted 13 three-pointers in the final 20 minutes and connected on six of them, surging to within 11 points, 48-37, after a Hildebrand layup with 11 minutes to play. That would be as close as the team could get though, as Lake Forest's 54-30 rebounding edge allowed the Foresters to milk the clock in the late stages of the game.
David Bauer led IC's bench players with nine points and three rebounds. Hildebrand added eight points and a pair of assists.
Max Stutsman led the Blueboys with seven rebounds in the contest.
Lake Forest was paced by Jim Schick's double-double of 16 points and 16 rebounds. Torrey Davis led all scorers with 19 points and added nine boards.
Illinois College will next travel to face Beloit College on January 17. The Blueboys and Buccaneers are slated for a 5 p.m. tip-off.
