By: Illinois College built a 51-30 lead at the break and cruised to a 90-71 win over Dominican University on Saturday.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team improved to 2-0 and won the 2017 Bill Merris Tournament on Saturday with a dominating display against Dominican University in the first half of a 90-71 victory. Behind 18 points from Brady Hays and better than 70 percent shooting as a team, the Blueboys built a 51-30 cushion at the break.
Hays knocked down a triple to open the scoring, but that was answered on the other end by Sean Ek. The lead changed hands four times in the early going, with a
Mason Speer jumper tying the game at 9-9 and starting a 6-0 run that would see the Blueboys open up a lead they would never give back.
Tim Parks had a hot hand and he continued the run with a free throw and a three-pointer to make it 13-9.
Tim Robertson tried keeping the game close for Dominican. His jumper brought the Stars to within a point at 15-14, but Hays canned another three-pointer to start a 10-0 that was capped by a Parks three to make it 25-14. The last single-digit lead that Illinois College had was at 29-20, but Hays tipped in a miss from
Sean McDonald and
David Bauer converted an acrobatic three-point play to make it 34-20. The IC offense would not be stopped and the lead reached 25 points, 51-26, before the Blueboys went to halftime with a 51-30 edge.
A burst of energy out of the gates in the second half got Dominican within 15 points, but Illinois College soon re-established control.
Max Stutsman ended the brief Stars run with a wing jump shot and McDonald had a three-point play before Stutsman swished in a three-ball for a 61-38 lead. In the next minute of action, Dominican hit two threes of its own to make it 61-44, but the IC advantage would not fall below 17 points the rest of the way.
Hays ended with a game-high 24 points along with seven rebounds. Tournament MVP
Mason Speer had 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting and five assists. Parks had 15 points and six boards, while McDonald added 14 points and seven rebounds. Hays and McDonald joined Speer on the All-Tournament Team for Illinois College.
The Blueboys play Quincy University on Nov. 24 in an exhibition game, but will have a full week off before returning to Sherman Gymnasium and Bill Merris Court for a 1 p.m. matchup against the University of Dallas on Nov. 26 in a game that counts for the team's standings.
