By: A late push by the Cougars made the final minutes interesting, but the Blueboys came up with big plays down the stretch to capture a 95-89 victory.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team opened its 2016-17 campaign with a 95-89 victory over Concordia University (Chicago) in the semifinals of the Bill Merris Tournament on Friday night. The Blueboys (1-0) advance to play Nebraska Wesleyan in the championship game on Saturday, while Concordia (Chicago) (0-1) will match up with MacMurray.
Concordia (Chicago) took a quick 8-5 lead out of the gates and had the Illinois College bench using an early timeout. After the break in action,
Mason Speer immediately connected on a jumper, then supplied the pass that allowed
Sean McDonald to step into an open three-pointer to make it 10-8 with a little over six minutes gone in the contest.
Both offenses were clicking right from the start, but IC's ability to knock down three-pointers kept them out in front.
Tim Schappaugh knocked down back-to-back three pointers to give the Blueboys a 21-18 advantage halfway through the first half, and another one from the senior guard made it 28-23 with 8:18 left until halftime.
The largest lead for either team in the first half came after
Kaiden Davis splashed a three-pointer to up Illinois College's edge to 36-30 at the 5:25 mark of the first half. That was answered by a Cougar three-pointer on the other end however, and they would come back to tie the game at 38-38. A three-pointer from Speer in the final two minutes helped IC get to the break ahead, 46-42.
Schappaugh carried the offensive load for the Blueboys in the first half with 20 points, but
Max Stutsman struggled and was held scoreless in the first 20 minutes. That changed quickly in the second half and his three-pointer with just over 15 minutes remaining gave Illinois College a double-digit lead at 60-50. Concordia (Chicago) pulled three points closer at 60-53 until Speer delivered a perfect pass to a cutting
Payton Dugan for an alley-oop jam to bring the crowd to life.
That play seemed to ignite the offense and the Blueboys eventually went up by as many as 15 points. The lead was 78-63 after a Stutsman layup with 7:15 to play when the Cougars began their comeback. Concordia (Chicago) guard Mike Walmer accounted for seven straight points during one stretch, the last bucket of which made it 80-75. Walmer had yet to make his biggest contribution to the comeback however.
With the lead back to 86-78 on a Stutsman jumper at the three-minute mark, the Cougars missed a layup and Dugan grabbed the board. The clock was working against Concordia (Chicago) as Illinois College brought the ball up the court. Stutsman positioned himself up top outside the three-point line and set a solid pick on Walmer, who retaliated with an elbow into Stutsman. Stutsman pushed back and the referee spotted the retaliation, calling Stutsman for a technical foul. Possession was taken away from IC and Walmer knocked down two free throws. On the ensuing possession, Walmer buried a three-pointer and the lead was suddenly down to 86-83 with 2:27 left on the clock.
Needing a basket to slow the Concordia rally, Schappaugh went one-on-one with a defender and laid it in along with a foul for an old-fashioned three-point play. He was answered on the other end by a Mitch Pelissier three-pointer, but Dugan came through with a clutch mid-range jumper that made it 91-86. In the final minute, the Cougars finally began to clank their three-pointers and Schappaugh nailed four free throws in the last 15 seconds to seal the IC win.
Schappaugh ended the night with a team-high 27 points, including 10-for-10 at the charity stripe. He also corralled a game-high 13 rebounds. Stutsman had all 16 of his points in the second half. Joining those two in double-figures were Dugan with 14 points, McDonald with 11 and Speer with 10. Pelissier scored 28 on the night for the Cougars, while Walmer ended with 20.
If Saturday's games are anything like Friday's, then the scoreboard will get a workout yet again. Nebraska Wesleyan was a 120-85 winner over MacMurray in the first semifinal game on Friday. The Highlanders will meet the Cougars in the 3rd Place Game at 2 p.m., with the Prairie Wolves squaring off with the Blueboys at approximately 4 p.m. for the Bill Merris Championship.
