By: The Pioneers knocked down six second half three-pointers to pull away from Illinois College, 75-63.
Box Score WAUKESHA, Wis. – For more than 20 minutes on Saturday afternoon, the Illinois College men's basketball team scrapped and clawed to stay within striking distance of one of the Midwest Conference's top teams. Five ties and five lead changes before halftime were the result, leaving the Blueboys in prime position to pull the upset on the road at Carroll University's Van Male Fieldhouse. Eventually though, a rapid burst from the Pioneers gave them a double-digit lead that IC wasn't able to recover from in a 75-63 loss. The Blueboys drop to 1-10 (0-6 MWC), while Carroll climbs to 7-3 (4-1 MWC).
Neither team had control in a back-and-forth first half.
Cody Hildebrand was the key for the Blueboys early on, scoring 13 of his team-high 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting before the break. The largest lead of the first half came at 25-19 for Carroll, but Hildebrand drew a foul and knocked down both his free throws, then hit a three-pointer as part of a 10-4 stretch for Illinois College that brought the Blueboys level at 29-29 after a
David Bauer three-ball. In the closing seconds,
Tim Schappaugh swiped a Nathan Schaefer pass and went coast-to-coast with a nifty behind-the-back move to lay the ball in at the horn, making Carroll's lead just 34-33 at the half.
The Pioneer lead remained just one, 41-40, following a
Max Stutsman three-pointer and
Brandon Fishburn layup in the first four minutes of the second half. Carroll responded to that Illinois College challenge with a 6-0 run until Hildebrand again answered with consecutive field goals to bring the Blueboys back to within 47-44. That's when CU's Marcus Johnson took over. Johnson led the Pioneers in the first half with 10 points, but the dagger came after halftime. The freshman accounted for all nine points – each coming off of three-pointers – in a span of three minutes to give the Pioneers a 56-44 gap over the Blueboys.
After a scoring drought of more than four minutes,
Mitchell Patterson got IC back on the board with a pair of free throws and the Blueboys would find a way to draw back to within seven, 58-51, following a Schappaugh layup with 7:29 remaining. That would be as close as Illinois College would get. Carroll uncorked a 17-6 run over the next six minutes to take its largest lead, 75-57, with less than two minutes remaining.
Jacob Taylor and
Brad Herrmann connected on three-pointers in the closing moments, but the deficit was too much for IC to overcome.
Schappaugh complemented Hildebrand in the Illinois College backcourt with 16 points and three assists.
John Taylor came off the bench to nab a team-high five rebounds.
Carroll was led by Johnson's 25 points. He added nine rebounds in the game. Bryan Nagy had an impressive game with 13 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, six blocks and four steals.
Illinois College will return home to Sherman Gymnasium on Jan. 7 to host Monmouth College. The Blueboys and Scots will get underway at 7 p.m. as the back-half of a doubleheader following the women's game.
