By: IC was down by just four points at the break, but the Panthers caught fire from deep after halftime to pull away for an 88-68 win.
Box Score ELSAH, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team opened its 2015-16 season on Tuesday night with an 88-68 loss on the road to Principia College. The Blueboys led by as many as eight points in the first half, but went into halftime down four and the Panthers pulled away in the second half behind 6-of-10 shooting from deep.
The early going of the game was an even battle and the Blueboys were ahead almost all the way until the seven-minute mark. Back-to-back three-pointers from
Brad Herrmann and
Sean McDonald keyed an 8-2 run from Illinois College which put it ahead, 20-12, at the midway point of the first half.
Principia had an answer to get back into the game though. The Panthers scored the next 11 points to take a 23-20 lead before
Michael Blewett rattled in a long two.
Cody Hildebrand put the Blueboys ahead twice more before the break, but the home team went to the locker rooms with a 34-30 lead.
The closest that Illinois College would get in the second half came after Principia scored the first five points to take a 39-30 lead. Hildebrand responded with two straight threes on the following IC possessions, slicing the deficit to 39-36 before an 8-0 run gave the Panthers a 47-36 lead with 16:45 to play.
IC refused to quit, answering back with an 8-2 run that momentarily made it 49-44, but Principia reeled off eight straight again to take a 57-44 advantage with 13:32 remaining. As time was winding down in the contest, the Blueboys would cut it to a 61-52 game after a McDonald trey and 70-63 following a
Max Stutsman triple but could get no closer. A 7-0 run doubled the Principia lead to 14 and it grew from there as the Blueboy shooters went cold late in the game.
Hildebrand paced the IC offense with 18 points while McDonald scored 11 in his Blueboy debut.
Tim Schappaugh added eight points and Stutsman had seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Illinois College will make its home debut this weekend, hosting the Bill Merris Tournament on Nov. 20 and 21. IC will meet Illinois Institute of Technology on Friday night at approximately 7:30 p.m., following the conclusion of the early game between MacMurray College and the University of Dubuque at Sherman Gymnasium.
