By: After a scorching start in the first half for both teams, Lawrence kept up the pressure in the second half and pulled away from IC late in the game.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – After a wild first half with 20 made three-pointers between the sides ended with a 46-46 deadlock, Lawrence University pulled away in the second half to hand the Illinois College men's basketball team an 88-76 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Sherman Gymnasium. The Blueboys ended with 10 made threes in the game, but nine came in the first half and IC cooled off after that. Illinois College falls to 7-13 (4-11 Midwest Conference) on the season while Lawrence moves to 9-11 (6-9 MWC) on the year.
Lawrence's Jamie Nikitas came in as the nation's fourth-leading scorer at more than 26 points per game, but it was the supporting cast that did the damage for the Vikings in the first half. Ben Peterson and Jeremy Stephani had three three-pointers each as LU shot 11-of-20 from behind the arc in the first half. That hot start was matched by the Blueboys though, who made 9-of-18 from downtown, led by three from
Cody Hildebrand and two from
Tim Schappaugh. Nikitas went to the half having been limited to six points.
The end result of all that long-range shooting was a 46-46 tie midway through the contest. Lawrence began with a 7-0 run, but Illinois College came back within a single point twice at 17-16 and 20-19 on threes from
David Bauer and Schappaugh. A 9-0 run by the Vikings followed to give the visitors a 10-point lead at 29-19, but with both teams knocking down their shots, an answer from the Blueboys wasn't far off. IC all the way back to take its first lead at 39-38 on a trey from Hildebrand at the three-minute mark and the game stayed close the rest of the way in the first half.
The game was nip-and-tuck much of the way in the second half. Trailing by a point, 57-56, with less than 14 minutes to play,
Payton Dugan was rewarded for attacking the basket, first converting a three-point play off of a
Mitchell Patterson feed and then scoring back-to-back put-back baskets, the last of which gave the Blueboys a 63-61 lead with 10:35 to play. That would be the last lead of the game for Illinois College however. Connor Weas hit a three-pointer the next trip down the floor to start an 11-0 run that gave Lawrence a 72-63 advantage with 7:38 left. The closest that the Blueboys would get after that was six points on a pair of
Max Stutsman free throws with 6:28 remaining.
After being held in check in the first half, Nikitas scored 14 in the second half to end the day with a game-high 20. Four other teammates joined him in double-figures. Patterson ended with a double-double of 19 points and 10 boards. Hildebrand had 15 of his 17 in the first half and Schappaugh added 16.
Illinois College will go on the road a week from today to face Ripon College on Feb. 13. Tip-off between the Blueboys and Red Hawks is scheduled for 1 p.m.
