By: The Buccaneers felt right at home in Flood Arena, shooting 59 percent from the field in the game to defeat Illinois College, 86-71.
Box Score BELOIT, Wis. – The Illinois College men's basketball team had its two-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday night as the Blueboys suffered an 86-71 loss on the road to Beloit College. Though the game was tied in the early going, the Buccaneers were on fire in the first half and took a 14-point lead into halftime and easily held on from there. Beloit improved to 8-11 (6-8 Midwest Conference) and sent IC to 7-12 (4-10 MWC) on the season.
The contest was tied twice in the first three minutes of the game. Beloit's Rudy Bentley Jr. gave the home team a 3-0 lead in the opening minute, but a pair of
Cody Hildebrand jumpers knotted the score at 4-4.
Tim Schappaugh then answered a Jacob Manthe layup to square the game at 6-6. Mike Gulve gave the Buccaneers the lead for good after an IC turnover, scoring on a layup that started a 9-0 run.
Buckets from Hildebrand and
Max Stutsman brought the Blueboys back within five until an Andrew Bremner three-pointer and an 8-0 run from the Buccaneers soon followed, making it 26-12 with 9:38 left until the half. The Beloit lead grew as high as 21 points in the first half before Illinois College ended the half on an 8-1 run with a
Dom Aiello basket sandwiched by three-pointers from Schappaugh and
Mitchell Patterson.
The Buccaneers scored six of the first seven points of the second half to increase the lead to 19 with two minutes gone after the break. Illinois College refused to go away however, cutting its deficit down to eight after an 8-0 run that included threes from Patterson and Stutsman, as well as a pair of
Mason Speer free throws. Though the Blueboys would get two more stops, they couldn't cut any further into the Beloit lead and Bentley Jr. hit a three-pointer at the five-minute mark that put the Buccaneers back ahead by double-digits.
The game stayed closed until the final minutes. A Schappaugh layup made it 79-71 with 90 ticks left on the clock, but Beloit ended the game with a 7-0 run as Illinois College was forced to shoot quickly and foul when on defense.
Patterson ended the night with a team-high 17 points for Illinois College. Hildebrand added 14 and Schappaugh had 11. Stutsman ended with 12 points and five rebounds, which tied with Aiello for the team high in boards. Speer dished out eight assists for the Blueboys.
Illinois College returns home on Feb. 6 to host Lawrence University at 1 p.m. The Blueboys and Lady Blues will be taking part in Play for the Cure that day and will be wearing pink socks in both games of the doubleheader. Fans coming to the game are encouraged to join them in wearing pink, and those who buy a pair of the same socks being worn in-game will be entered into a drawing for one of two $100 gift cards.
