By: The Scots were clingy, but Illinois College decided the relationship had run its course in the third overtime.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Sometime around when Monmouth's Will Jones' desperation three-pointer touched seemingly every part of the rim and still found the bottom of the basket at the end of the first overtime, the lucky fans in Sherman Gymnasium realized they were in for something truly special. Though eventually down two starters to fouls and given plenty of reasons why it just wasn't their night, the Blueboys of the Illinois College men's basketball team fought through adversity, 12 ties, and 21 lead changes to deliver a 122-118 triple-overtime victory in the home season finale on Tuesday night. The win improves IC to 8-15 (5-12 Midwest Conference), while the Scots slip to 6-16 (6-11 MWC).
The contest started off with a shootout from downtown. Justin Aluya connected on his first shot of the game, giving Monmouth College a 3-0 lead.
Max Stutsman was quick to answer with a three of his own, knotting things at 3-3. Aluya hit another triple, but that was countered with a three from
Tim Schappaugh. A jumper from Lamont Mitchell would extend Monmouth's lead to four, but
David Bauer pulled IC within one, 10-9, after sinking a contested three, the first of what would prove to be a huge night for the junior.
The Blueboys would take the team's first and only lead of the first half at 21-20 with eight minutes remaining following a
Brad Herrmann three-pointer. The Fighting Scots would counter and take their biggest lead of the half with just over six minutes remaining, off a Justin Batterton layup, as Monmouth pulled ahead 27-21. Monmouth was then able to hold off a late push from IC to go into halftime up one, 37-36.
Early on in the second half, Stutsman hit a jumper to spark an 8-0 run that saw the Blueboys take a five point advantage, 44-39, two minutes into the half. IC took its largest lead of the contest, 48-41, after a
Mason Speer jumper with 16 minutes remaining in the game. Monmouth constructed a 10-0 run to reclaim the lead, 53-50, with twelve minutes left. The two teams then took part in a back-and-forth style matchup, as each side exchanged the lead multiple times, with neither squads leading by more than three points. Speer drilled a pair of free throws with just under two minutes left to break a 75-75 tie, which was followed up with a
Mitchell Patterson layup to go up four in the final minute, 79-75. After missed free throws by the Blueboys, Mitchell drilled a three to tie the game at 83-83 with four seconds remaining. Schappaugh's shot at buzzer fell short, sending the game into overtime.
Patterson powered a 7-1 run to open the extra period, as Illinois College opened up a 90-84 advantage. Mitchell drilled a deep two to bring the Fighting Scots within two, 90-88, with two minutes remaining. In the final seconds, Will Jones missed a three, got his own rebound, and put up a corner three-pointer that rattled around the rim before falling for a buzzer-beater to tie the game at 100-100, sending the game into a second overtime period.
In the second OT, Aluya gave the Fighting Scots an early 102-100 advantage, but a three by Bauer gave Illinois College a 103-102 lead. As the overtime wore on, Mitchell would hit a layup and the and-one to tie the game at 110-110 with just over a minute remaining. Neither team would score through the rest of the overtime period, sending it to a third overtime.
Monmouth's foul troubles finally caught up with them in the third overtime. Batterton put Monmouth ahead 112-110 on a putback after a missed dunk. Speer would answer on an alley-oop from Patterson with 3:43 remaining. A three-pointer by Mitchell on the next possession gave the Fighting Scots a 115-112 lead and dimmed IC hopes, but
Payton Dugan stuck with it after a miss to get a layup and cut the deficit to one. With under a minute remaining, he took a feed from Speer and scored on a reverse lay-in for a 116-15 lead. Following a Batterton miss, Bauer was fouled and nailed two free throws. The lead reached five points on two more free throws from Patterson, giving the Blueboys a 120-115 advantage. With the night working out the way it did, nothing would come easy. Jones drilled a three with 11 seconds left to make it 120-118, but Bauer sealed the win with two more free throws with four seconds remaining.
Bauer ended the night with 30 points, setting a career-high as he shot 8-of-9 from both the floor and from beyond the arc. He was also 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. Patterson notched the first triple-double in recent Illinois College memory as he ended with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Stutsman ended with 19 points before fouling out. Speer had 18 points and seven assists. For Monmouth, Mitchell ended with 37 points and Jones had 33.
Illinois College wraps up the regular season on Feb. 18 facing Grinnell College. Tip-off from Grinnell is slated for 5 p.m.
