By: After a 42-point defeat on the road at Monmouth in January, the Blueboys came out strong and held on down the stretch for an 84-80 win over the Scots on Wednesday night.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team avenged a 42-point loss from earlier this season by defeating the Monmouth Scots on Wednesday night in Sherman Gymnasium.
Mitchell Patterson led all scorers with 24 points and the Blueboys shot nearly 53 percent for the game to eliminate Monmouth from Midwest Conference Tournament contention. IC improves its mark to 8-14 (5-12 MWC) on the year, while the Scots sink to 13-9 (9-8 MWC).
The Blueboys were blitzed immediately the first time these two teams played, but it was a different story with Illinois College back on its home floor. Two Ben Friday baskets to start off the game were each answered on the next trip down the floor by IC courtesy of
Cody Hildebrand and Patterson to leave the game level at 4-4. Friday later added a three-point play to give the Scots a 9-5 lead, but Illinois College got the crowd into the game with an 8-0 run to take a 13-9 edge. Hildebrand accounted for the first five in the sequence and
Mason Speer set up Patterson for a three-ball to give the Blueboys the four-point cushion with 14 minutes left in the first half.
Less than a minute later, another Speer-to-Patterson connection resulted in a second straight trey and Hildebrand added a fast break layup following a Speer steal to make it 18-11. The lead reached double-digits for the first time on consecutive
Max Stutsman jumpers to make it 24-14 with 6:37 remaining in the opening half. The sophomore post player added another jumper moments later to give the Blueboys a 28-14 advantage. Monmouth would respond back in the closing five minutes to shrink the deficit to 34-29 at the break.
The Scots stormed out of halftime by scoring the first five points to square the game at 34-34, and it was still tied at 41-41 after Lamont Mitchell drained a triple with 15:22 remaining in the contest. The game suddenly swung in Illinois College's favor after that shot however. A 9-0 run with seven of the nine points coming from bench players lifted the Blueboys to a 50-41 lead after a
Payton Dugan tip-in. After Monmouth scored to stop the run,
Tim Schappaugh swished in a three-pointer to make it 53-43.
The lead hovered in or near double-digits the majority of the way for Illinois College after that, cresting at 13 on a Stutsman free throw that made it 69-56 with 5:37 to play. A Monmouth run drew the Scots within three at 72-69 with 2:34 left, but Patterson hit a vital three-pointer to push the lead back to six and Stutsman made it seven with a three-point play with only 1:13 left on the clock. The Blueboys hit enough of their free throws in the closing stages to hang on and seal the win.
Patterson added three boards in the game to his 24 points. Hildebrand had 17 points along with three rebounds and three assists, and Stutsman snared a team-high nine rebounds to go along with his 16 points.
Dom Aiello came off the bench to add eight points in the contest.
Illinois College closes out the 2015-16 season on Feb. 20, visiting Grinnell College for a 1 p.m. tip.
