By: IC had the answer for every Cornell challenge on Saturday evening, pulling away late for a 71-52 win on the road.
Box Score MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – The two matchups between the Illinois College men's basketball team and Cornell College provide a good synopsis of the season for the Blueboys. Back in November, IC let a three-point halftime lead slip away in an ugly second half. On Saturday, the Blueboys took a four-point lead into halftime and then put their foot on the gas pedal in the second half, leaving the Rams in the dust for a 71-52 victory. The win was the third in four games for IC, who improves to 4-14 (3-10 Midwest Conference).
Cody Hildebrand led all scorers with 17 in the game, and he got it started early on in the game.
Max Stutsman swished in a three-pointer on the first look of the game and Hildebrand set the tone from there with a strong pair of post moves, giving the Blueboys a 7-6 lead with four minutes gone.
After that, the Blueboys started heating up from outside the arc. The final Cornell lead of the game came at 10-9, but
David Bauer put Illinois College up for good with a three-pointer. That was followed by one from
Brad Herrmann for a 15-10 lead and he extended it to a seven-point edge with another three to go up, 21-14. Cornell closed it down to a one-point game in the final minute of the first half, but
Brandon Fishburn closed out the half with a three – the fifth of the half for IC – to take a 32-28 lead at the break.
The first minute of the second half followed a familiar script as Hildebrand muscled in for a layup and Fishburn drained a three-pointer to put the Blueboys out in front by nine. As the seconds ticked away, Cornell would get no closer than four points. After Nick Bobb cut it to a 43-39 lead for IC,
Jacob Taylor answered back with a trey and the lead reached double-digits for the first time on a Hildebrand layup that made it 56-46 with 7:07 remaining.
Cornell tried to make a push, but Illinois College answered every bucket from the Rams. A Corey Davis layup with 5:55 to play sliced the IC lead to 58-50, only for the Blueboys to answer with a 6-0 run over the course of four minutes. The Rams would only make one more basket and Illinois College hit enough free throws down the stretch to continue to pull away in the closing moments.
Hildebrand knocked down 7-of-10 field goals to score his 17 points. Fishburn ended with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Bauer also reached double-figures with 10.
Illinois College is back home on Feb. 4, hosting Beloit at 7:30 p.m. following the women's contest at Sherman Gymnasium.
