By: Illinois College saw a 17-point second half lead shrink to two before the Blueboys put away the Rams on Saturday by a score of 79-73.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team won its second straight and third in its last four on Saturday with a 79-73 victory over Cornell College. The Blueboys put five players in double-figures on the afternoon, led by
Tim Schappaugh with 18. Schappaugh put IC on his back in the late going as the Rams tried to mount a comeback in the final minutes. Illinois College improves to 7-11 (4-9 Midwest Conference) and sends Cornell to 6-11 (4-8 MWC).
The game had a less-than-ideal start for Illinois College. A pair of three-pointers in the first 30 seconds made it 6-0 in favor of Cornell and had IC using a timeout immediately. The break paid immediate dividends for the Blueboys, who came out of the huddle with a 10-0 run.
Cody Hildebrand scored the first four for IC, followed by four straight from
Mitchell Patterson and Schappaugh's first bucket after a steal by
Mason Speer led to a run-out. Cornell ended the run by scoring inside, making it 10-8, but Illinois College went on another 8-0 run which include three-balls by Schappaugh and Patterson to make it 18-8 with 12:40 to play in the half.
Cornell used a timeout of its own and answered with an 8-0 run to slice its deficit down to two, but the Blueboys were the stronger team in the first half and soon had the lead back to nine, 31-22, after back-to-back treys from
David Bauer. The lead went as high as 13 points late in the half before Cornell's Grant Anderson (a game-high 24 points) hit three free throws with two ticks left on the clock to make it 41-32 at the break.
A hot start to the second half from Illinois College pushed the lead to 57-40 with seven minutes gone in the second half following a Hildebrand three-pointer. Cornell scratched its way back into the game with an 8-2 run, but Bauer's third three-pointer of the game put IC back in front, 64-50, and Hildebrand followed with a short jumper to increase it back to 16 at 66-50.
The Rams began their comeback in earnest at that point. Corey Davis accounted for four straight points before Brad Hund made a three and Davis followed with two free throws to cut it to a seven-point game.
Max Stutsman made four straight free throws to get it back to 11, but a 9-0 Cornell burst brought the Rams within two at 70-68 with 4:08 to play.
On the other end, Schappaugh coolly drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to get the cushion back to five. Though Davis answered again with a driving layup, the Blueboys tightened the screws on defense, forcing two turnovers and forcing a missed jumper. The score was still 73-70 when Patterson crashed hard and laid in a bucket with 1:35 to play. Cornell's last gasp came when Anderson converted a three-point play to again make it a two-point game with 1:08 to go.
After IC missed on a chance to increase the margin, Craig Engle drove down the lane looking for the tying bucket. He was met by Patterson, who blocked his attempted floater and Stutsman corralled the rebound. Forced to foul, Cornell sent Schappaugh to the line, who found the bottom of the net with two free throws. Two desperation threes by the Rams clanged off the iron and Schappaugh got his hands on the rebound with one second to play. He was fouled once again and made both, pushing the lead to six and ensuring the victory.
Schappaugh's late scoring outburst resulted in the junior scoring a team-high 18 for the Blueboys. Hildebrand added 17 on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor. Patterson ended with 12 points – 10 in the first half – while Bauer scored 11 and Stutsman 10. Stutsman also ended with a team-high seven rebounds, while Speer dished out seven assists and had three steals.
Illinois College will try to keep its winning streak going on the road this week, traveling to Beloit College on Feb. 3 for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against the Buccaneers.
