By: An inspired Grinnell team took command in the first half on its Senior Day and pulled away for a 134-94 victory.
Box Score GRINNELL, Iowa – In the final game of 2015-16, the Illinois College men's basketball couldn't complete the season sweep of Grinnell College, falling to the Pioneers on their Senior Day by a score of 134-94. The Blueboys started out the game cold in the first half, allowing Grinnell to open up a 21-point halftime lead and the margin grew throughout the second half. The Blueboys end their season with an overall record of 8-15 (5-13 Midwest Conference). Grinnell ends its season at 9-14 (6-12 MWC).
It was a long afternoon for Illinois College. Grinnell's high-octane offense can be hard to catch once it has a lead and the Blueboys were only tied with the Pioneers once in the entire contest. After a Kyle Parker jumper to open the game,
Mason Speer knotted the score at 2-2 on the other end with an offensive rebound put-back. Before the game was a minute old, Grinnell took the lead on a free throw and then extended it to a 6-2 lead on an IC turnover and a three-pointer. Twice after that the Blueboys would draw within a single point – once on a
Mitchell Patterson bucket and once on a
Sean McDonald layup – but each time the Pioneers would respond.
Following McDonald's layup, Grinnell went on an 8-0 run over two minutes of action to take a 22-12 lead.
John Taylor finally stopped the run with another basket in the paint, but a Julian Marx three-pointer made it 25-14. While Illinois College was struggling from beyond the arc, going 0-for-10 from deep in the first half, Grinnell was thriving. The Pioneers made 11 threes in the first 20 minutes, providing the fuel for an offensive output that allowed them to lead by as much as 28 in the first half before a 7-0 run from the Blueboys took them to the half trailing 65-44.
The closest that Illinois College would get in the second half came 90 seconds in on a
Tim Schappaugh steal and fast break layup for
Cody Hildebrand. That made it 70-52, but Vinny Curta converted a three-point play on the other end to push the lead back into the 20s. The game stayed right in that range much of the way and it was 101-82 after
David Bauer connected on a three-pointer with 7:21 left, but the Blueboys would go cold down the stretch. A 15-0 run followed the Bauer triple and Grinnell's margin ballooned to 42 in the final minute.
Brendan Barlow provided the final basket of the game and the season on a layup in the last 30 seconds to close it out.
Curta led all scorers for Grinnell with 32 points in only 13 minutes of action. Four other Pioneers also landed in double-figures. The Blueboys were led by Patterson's 20 points.
Max Stutsman ended with 18 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Bauer came off the bench for 18 points and Hildebrand had 14.
With no seniors on the team, Illinois College doubled its win total in 2015-16, going from a record of 4-19 a year ago to 8-15 and from 3-15 in the MWC in 2014-15 to 5-13 this season.
