By: David Bauer scored 18 off the bench to help Illinois College snap a four-game losing streak with a 69-63 win on the road at Knox.
Box Score GALESBURG, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team swept its season series with Knox College on Wednesday night with a 69-63 victory over the Prairie Fire. The Blueboys received 30 points on 10-of-12 shooting off the bench, led by a game-high 18 from
David Bauer to help their cause. IC improves to 5-10 (2-8 Midwest Conference) and sends Knox to 1-13 (0-9 MWC).
A
Max Stutsman jumper on the opening possession of the game gave Illinois College a lead they would never relinquish. Making his second career start,
Mason Speer nailed two three-pointers in the next two minutes to increase the advantage to 8-2. Knox would stay within striking distance and cut the IC lead to 16-14 after a Marko Protic three-pointer at the 12-minute mark of the first half, but the Blueboys scored seven points in less than 60 seconds to force a timeout from the Prairie Fire.
The Illinois College edge soon reached double-digits, and a three-pointer from
Mitchell Patterson followed by a Bauer jumper gave the Blueboys their largest lead of the first half at 33-21 with 3:33 to go until halftime. Both offenses went quiet in the final minutes and IC took a 34-23 lead to the break.
The Blueboys continued to control the action in the first seven minutes of the second half, extending their lead out to 18 points at 48-30 with 13:35 remaining after a
Cody Hildebrand three-point play. Knox came right back with a 6-0 run however, and Illinois College's cushion stayed in the 12-point range for much of the way. When Bauer connected on another jumper with less than four minutes to play, IC's lead was still 11 at 59-48.
Down the stretch Knox made things interesting, scoring five points on one possession after a technical foul on IC followed by a three-pointer that made it 59-54 with 2:20 to play. Patterson answered with a jumper with 1:39 left, but Deandre Weathersby converted a three-pointer after a Prairie Fire offensive rebound to slice it to 61-57 at the 1:24 mark.
In the final minute, a Speer layup and two Bauer free throws upped IC's lead to 65-57, but Knox quickly scored on the other end, then turned a Blueboy turnover into a layup to make it 65-61 with 26 ticks left on the clock. Fortunately, Bauer made all four of his free throws in the closing seconds and Illinois College could dribble out the remainder of the game after the Prairie Fire missed a desperation three-pointer in the final seconds.
Besides Bauer's 18, Illinois College received 11 points from Stutsman and 10 from Speer. Hildebrand ended with nine points and Patterson added nine points, eight rebounds, four assists and four blocks.
Dom Aiello made all three of his field goals off the bench for six points.
The Blueboys will conclude a two-game road trip on Jan. 23 with a 1 p.m. tip-off at Carroll University.
