By: Tournament MVP Tim Schappaugh led the Blueboys with 33 points on the afternoon, lifting IC to an 81-76 win at the Bill Merris Classic.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team scored one of its most impressive wins in recent memory on Saturday afternoon with an 81-76 triumph over the University of Dubuque in the Bill Merris Classic. The win improves the Blueboys to 2-1 on the season with the Midwest Conference opener coming up next week.
Not intimated against a team that won the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference last season and returned an All-American, Illinois College stormed out to a 10-0 lead on Dubuque to start the contest. The high-powered tandem of Jacob Mohlis and Andre Norris didn't find the range right away for the Spartans and the Blueboys took advantage. After a stop on the first possession of the game,
Tim Schappaugh nailed a triple to make it 3-0 and
Cody Hildebrand and
Payton Dugan followed with buckets of their own before Schappaugh knocked in another jumper to take a double-digit lead with more than four minutes elapsed.
Dubuque was bound to come back at some point and it didn't take long for the Spartans to reel off a 13-1 run to earn their first lead of the game. Norris had eight points in that stretch, but
Max Stutsman ended the stretch with a tough layup down low to knot the score at 13-13. The game remained close throughout the remainder of the first half and the Blueboys would re-take the lead on a Schappaugh three-point play, only to have Dubuque answer with Mitchell Morrissey putting the Spartans ahead at the break with a basket in the final minute to take a 33-32 edge.
The lead alternated on nearly every possession in the opening minutes of the second half and another three-point play from Schappaugh brought Illinois College level at 42-42 with 12:25 remaining. Norris then scored two baskets as part of a quick 6-0 burst from Dubuque to give the Spartans their largest lead of the game at 48-42, but the IC defense did its part to keep the game close and Hildebrand accounted for five straight points to make it 48-47 as the clock rolled under eight minutes to play in regulation.
Next it was Stutsman's time to shine. The sophomore big man scored seven of the 11 in an 11-2 stretch that put Illinois College up, 60-56. The Spartans responded with a 7-0 run of their own though, taking a 63-60 lead with less than two minutes to play. Needing a big play, IC turned to
Mitchell Patterson, who scored at the rim to slice the deficit to one and after getting a stop, Hildebrand gave the Blueboys the lead in the final minute. Dubuque knocked down a three-pointer to go up two with 36 seconds to play, but Patterson made a clutch bucket to tie it with 23 seconds left and the Spartans missed a potential game-winner with the clock about to expire to send the game into overtime.
Despite Mohlis beginning to heat up in the second half and overtime, Illinois College was too efficient on the offensive end in the extra session to allow it to matter. The Blueboys made four of their six field goals in overtime and all six shots they had from the stripe. Mohlis hit his second three-pointer in a row with 2:55 to play, but IC ended the contest on a 9-2 run – with all nine scored by Schappaugh – to ice it and earn the win.
Schappaugh ended with a game-high 33 points including 15-of-17 from the line to earn Tournament MVP honors for the weekend. Hildebrand added 19 points and Stutsman had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Patterson came up one point shy of a double-double, ending with nine points and a team-high 13 boards. Patterson and Hildebrand joined Schappaugh on the All-Tournament squad.
For Dubuque, Mohlis led the way with 26 points. Norris, a day removed from a 37-point explosion against MacMurray, secured his second double-double of the weekend with 17 points and 15 rebounds as both players made the All-Tournament team. MacMurray's Mike Cameron and Brent Long, and IIT's Jake Digiorgio rounded out the All-Tournament team.
Illinois College will try for a three-game winning streak on Nov. 24 with a road game against Cornell College in the MWC opener for each team. Tip-off in Mount Vernon, Iowa is scheduled for 5 p.m.
