By: Illinois College opened the 17th Bill Merris Classic with a come-from-behind victory over the Illinois Institute of Technology on Friday at Sherman Gymnasium.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team broke into the "W" column on Friday night with a 77-70 victory over the Illinois Institute of Technology in the second game of a doubleheader in the 17th Annual Bill Merris Classic at Sherman Gymnasium. The Blueboys trailed at the half but used a big run to lead by as many as 14 points before hanging on down the stretch. IC evens its record at 1-1 on the young season.
The first half was a close affair throughout with neither team able to cobble together a lead of more than four points.
Cody Hildebrand (a team-high 21 points) carried the load offensively for Illinois College in the opening minutes, connecting on a pair of jumpers in the opening minute and scoring seven of the first nine for IC. Two free throws from Hildebrand made it 13-9 with just over five minutes played, but IIT was able to come back and get its first lead at 16-15.
Brad Herrmann stepped up with a pair of three-pointers immediately after that, giving Illinois College the lead back at 18-16 and then extending it out to a 21-18 edge less than a minute later. Sam Rarick did most of his damage in the first half for the Scarlet Hawks. The junior post man had 16 of his game-high 22 in the opening 20 minutes and he gave IIT a 30-27 lead, but that was answered by free throws from Herrmann and
Dom Aiello to tie it at 30-30 and
David Bauer followed with two jumpers in quick succession to re-establish a 34-30 edge inside of four minutes until the break.
After IIT called timeout to slow the momentum, the Scarlet Hawks reeled off an 8-0 run that was ultimately ended by a
Tim Schappaugh three-pointer and the Blueboys went to the locker rooms facing a 40-37 deficit.
Payton Dugan and
Mitchell Patterson attacked the basket on back-to-back possessions after halftime to give the Blueboys a 41-40 advantage. It was a sign of things to come for Illinois College as the team's first seven buckets of the second half came in the paint, a stretch that was ended by a Hildebrand three-pointer that upped the lead to 54-44 and forced the Scarlet Hawks into another timeout. Aiello and Herrmann scored coming out of the stoppage in play to give the Blueboys a 58-44 lead – the largest cushion the team would enjoy all night.
The lead was sliced in half following a 7-0 burst from IIT that made it 58-51 with nine minutes to play. Aiello scored inside to briefly stop the run, but another five unanswered made it a 12-2 stretch that closed the gap to 60-56 for the Blueboys with still over seven minutes remaining. Patterson helped keep IC's nose out in front with a short jumper and layup to make it 64-57. Following two free throws from IIT, Illinois College had a four-point possession that helped put the game out of reach. Bauer was fouled on a layup, but he missed the chance at the three-point play. However Dugan kept the play alive with an offensive board and scored on a tip-in to increase the edge to 68-59 with 5:30 left.
One last gasp from the Scarlet Hawks made it 70-66 with three minutes left, but neither team scored for more than a minute and when one team did, it was Illinois College courtesy of a Hildebrand bucket in the paint to increase the lead to 72-66 with 1:39 remaining. In the last 40 seconds, Schappaugh scored on a fast break basket and he and Hildebrand combined for 3-of-4 at the charity stripe to seal it.
Hildebrand scored his 21 on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor, while Patterson scored 12 on 6-of-10. Schappaugh was the other Blueboy in double-figures with 11. Aiello came off the bench to contribute six points and a team-high nine rebounds while Herrmann ended with nine points including two of IC's four three-pointers on the night.
In the evening's first contest, the University of Dubuque proved to be too much for MacMurray College, downing the Highlanders by a score of 79-67. Illinois College and Dubuque will meet at 4 p.m. tomorrow in a pre-determined matchup that will serve as the de facto championship game of the Merris Tournament.
