By: Sean Fancsali sank 11-of-13 field goals and scored 17 of his 27 points after halftime to help the Buccaneers grab a 75-67 win over IC.
Box Score BELOIT, Wis. – A solid second half of basketball from the Illinois College men's team wasn't enough to earn the Blueboys the comeback victory on Saturday against Beloit College. Trailing by 14 at the break, the Blueboys got as close as four points in the closing minutes before falling, 75-67.
Cody Hildebrand led IC with 17 points in the game, while
Mitchell Patterson added 12. IC sinks to 1-13 (0-9 Midwest Conference) with the loss.
Illinois College may have well gotten the victory if not for the efforts of Beloit's Sean Fancsali. The senior came in averaging just over seven points a game but scored a game-high 27 on 11-of-13 shooting from the field, as well as 5-of-6 from the free throw line. With the Buccaneers struggling in the second half, he kept them afloat with 17 of his 27 points to fend off the Blueboy rally.
It was an evenly-played opening 10 minutes with Illinois College on top for much of it. In fact, when
Jacob Taylor drained a three-pointer with 9:36 to play in the first half, the Blueboys were up, 15-13, and Beloit used a timeout. Whatever was said in the huddle worked. The Bucs scored the next 13 points to take a 26-15 lead before
Blake Shehorn stopped the bleeding with a pair at the line. Beloit took a 37-23 lead into halftime.
The three-point line got IC back into the game in the second half. The Blueboys knocked down five of their 10 attempts in the closing 20 minutes, while Beloit was held to 0-of-9 from distance. Down 41-25, treys from
Max Stutsman and
Brandon Fishburn in the early going of the second half showed that IC still had a pulse. The Beloit lead was still 56-43 following a Fancsali layup with 11:26 to play, but IC embarked on a 9-0 to bring the Blueboys back to within four points.
Jacob Taylor hit his second three-pointer of the game during the run, while Stutsman finished it off with an old-fashioned three-point play.
Despite IC's improved play late in the game, ultimately the clock became the Blueboys' worst enemy. A three-point play from Hildebrand again pulled IC to within four at 65-61, but less than two minutes remained in the game. Fancsali and Hildebrand then traded layups, and the deficit for IC remained four with less than a minute to play. Forced into fouling, IC sent Beloit to the line for eight shots in the last 50 seconds. The Bucs would connect on all eight to seal the win.
In addition to his 12 points, Patterson led IC with six rebounds, helping the team to a 40-36 edge on the glass. The Blueboys also enjoyed a 21-14 advantage in bench points, led by Shehorn's nine. Fishburn dished out four assists to tie for game-high honors.
Illinois College is back home at Sherman Gymnasium on Wednesday night to host Knox. The Blueboys and Prairie Fire will get started at approximately 7:30 p.m. following the women's contest.
