By: The reigning Division III National Player of the Week was up to his usual tricks with 36 points on Saturday, including 7-of-8 from three-point range.
Box Score RIPON, Wis. – The Illinois College men's basketball team went toe-to-toe for a second time with one of the best teams in the Midwest Conference, but behind 36 points from Ty Sabin, the Ripon Red Hawks held off the Blueboys by a score of 86-73. Sabin, the reigning National Player of the Week in Division III men's basketball, had 34 points including the game-winning three-pointer in the earlier meeting between the two sides. Illinois College falls to 7-14 (4-12 MWC) in defeat, while Ripon clinches a bid to the MWC Tournament after improving to 14-7 (12-4 MWC).
The opening five minutes were all Illinois College, as the Blueboys jumped out to a 17-8 lead with 14:48 left in the first half. Trailing 8-7, IC went on a 10-0 run spurred by six points from
Cody Hildebrand to open up what would be its largest advantage of the contest. Ty Ketz responded back with back-to-back layups to make it 17-12 before Sabin connected on a three-pointer for his first points of the game with 12:40 to go until halftime. Those seven points were part of a 13-0 rally from the Red Hawks to take a 21-17 edge before
Payton Dugan canned a pair at the line.
The remainder of the half was an attempt to contain the Ripon offense by the Blueboys. During dry stretches from the Red Hawks, Illinois College was able to take advantage. After falling behind, IC came back to take a 34-28 lead on a
Max Stutsman triple with 7:21 to go until the break. Those points would be the last until there were less than three minutes until halftime however, at which point another Stutsman trey ended a 12-0 stretch from Ripon and made it 40-37. A last-second layup by Koy Brecklin would send Ripon to the break holding a 46-41 lead.
Sabin – who scored 51 of his team's 78 against Cornell seven days ago – was held to 15 in the first half, but would continue to pump in baskets in the second half. A triple from
Tim Schappaugh tied the game at 48-48 with more than two minutes gone in the second half, but Sabin had the answer a little more than a minute later to put Ripon back up by three. Following a miss on the other end, Sabin scored three the old-fashioned way. Just when the Red Hawks looked to be taking command, the Blueboys had one last push in them. Two
David Bauer free throws cut the deficit to 59-55 and Dugan scored off of an offensive rebound put-back to make it a two-point game. Two missed free throws on the other end by Isaac Masters led to a Dugan layup that tied the game up at 59-59.
Though momentum was with the Blueboys, they would go suddenly cold, not scoring for more than four minutes. In that stretch, Ripon reeled off 10 straight to take a double-digit lead on a Sabin layup with 7:41 remaining.
Mitchell Patterson finally ended the drought for IC, but the Red Hawks then added another nine unanswered to take a 78-61 lead with just over four minutes to play. The closest that the Blueboys would get the rest of the way was 12 after a
Sean McDonald three in the last two minutes. Fittingly, Ripon's final points came on another long-range jumper from Sabin to give him 36 on the afternoon.
Four players ended in double-figures for Illinois College, led by Stutsman with 21 points and five boards. Patterson had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Schappaugh chipped in 13 points as well. Hildebrand ended with 10 points and
Mason Speer contributed eight assists.
Illinois College returns to Sherman Gymnasium for its final home game of the season on Feb. 17, hosting Monmouth College. The Blueboys and Scots will get underway at 5:30 p.m.
