By: Down 12 early in the contest, Illinois College fought back to tie it late in the game, but the Rams held off the charge and came away with the victory.
Box Score MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – The Illinois College men's basketball team fought all the way back from a 12-point deficit, but Cornell College made the plays it needed down the stretch to come away with a 78-71 win in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams. The Blueboys slip to 2-2 (0-1 MWC) with the loss, while Cornell moves to 1-1 (1-0 MWC).
A sluggish start on offense for the Blueboys put the team in a hole in the early minutes.
Max Stutsman gave IC what would prove to be its only lead at 3-2, but a 15-2 run from Cornell followed to give the Rams a 17-5 lead after eight minutes.
Tim Schappaugh put an end to that run with a corner three and following a stop from IC, Cornell was finally whistled for its first foul of the contest at the 11:40 mark, allowing
Mitchell Patterson to complete a three-point play that sliced it to a 17-11 game. The foul calls picked up steam quickly on the Rams after that and Illinois College worked its way into the bonus within the next five minutes of action.
Cody Hildebrand made his impact felt shortly thereafter by converting a pair of three-point plays, the second of which cut Cornell's advantage to 24-20 with 6:21 to go until the break. The lead was back to nine for Cornell however until
Mitchell Patterson jumped a passing lane and went downcourt for an uncontested slam that made it 32-25 with 1:50 until the break. Trailing 34-25, Schappaugh ended the half by giving the Blueboys some momentum with a three-pointer and a finish at the rim as time expired, making it 34-30.
Cornell's lead hovered right around the four-point mark for much of the way in the second half. It wasn't until Grant Anderson went to the bench that Illinois College made its push.
Payton Dugan splashed a triple from the left corner and
Sean McDonald connected on a soft fallaway to make it a 56-53 lead for Cornell with 8:40 to play. Down seven, Patterson had a nearly identical play as in the first half, anticipating the pass and getting the steal that led to a breakaway dunk and a 60-55 deficit.
The lead for the Rams was still six, 62-56, when Schappaugh drained back-to-back threes that tied the game for the first time at 62. From there, Patterson again deadlocked the game with a tough finish at the rim and, after Cornell had gone up by three on a Cody Carter three, Patterson knotted it up with a three-point play that made it 67-67 with 2:20 remaining.
That would be as close as the Blueboys would get to the lead. On the next trip downcourt, Austin Dyer laid it in on a nice inside feed that gave Cornell the lead back. Following an empty possession from Illinois College, Dyer made one of two at the stripe for a 70-67 Cornell edge. With the clock moving under one minute, Illinois College again couldn't find the range and Corey Davis rolled in a pair at the line that gave the Rams a five-point lead with only 41 seconds left. The Blueboys would make two more baskets late, but the Rams cashed in their free throws to solidify the lead and get the win.
Cornell's Anderson had 15 of game-high 24 points in the first half to help the Rams grab the early lead. Carter, Dyer and Engle all ended in double-figures for the Rams as well.
Schappaugh knocked down 5-of-10 from behind the arc to lead Illinois College with 20 points on the night. Hildebrand and Patterson each netted 14 and Stutsman ended with nine points and a team-best five rebounds.
The Blueboys are now off until a Dec. 5 road trip to face Lawrence University. Illinois College will tip off against the Vikings beginning at 1 p.m that day.
