By: Down by six with just over three minutes remaining, Knox outscored Illinois College, 12-5, down the stretch to come away with a 66-65 victory.
Box Score
GALESBURG, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team took control of the game late in the first half, but Knox College rallied late, overtaking the Blueboys with a 10-0 run to take the lead back with less than a minute to go. The Prairie Fire held on down the stretch at the foul line and defeated IC, 66-65, on Wednesday night. The Blueboys fall to 7-13 (2-11 Midwest Conference) on the season, while the Prairie Fire improve their record to 5-15 (3-10 MWC).
The opening minute of the contest saw a three-pointer by
Max Stutsman go down, followed by a short jumper from Stutsman assisted by
Mason Speer. Following a Stutsman steal,
Brady Hays connected to quickly make it 7-2.
Knox came back to tie the game at 9-9 and eventually took the lead, however Illinois College found the range from behind the arc, connecting on three in a row as part of a 9-1 run to take a 31-23 lead as the clock ticked towards five minutes left in the half. The Prairie Fire got it to six, but Stutsman and
Sean McDonald accounted for seven points in a row, giving the Blueboys their largest lead of the night, 38-25. The offense wouldn't score the final three minutes of the half, but IC still went to the halftime break with a 38-28 lead.
The Blueboys re-established a double-digit lead on two occasions early in the second half, but Knox came on strong and had the Illinois College lead down to three with just under 13 minutes to play. The teams traded blows throughout the half, but a McDonald bucket with 4:40 to play gave IC a 58-54 lead and a Stutsman basket with 3:23 left made it 60-54.
Out of nowhere, the Prairie Fire caught fire, scoring on five consecutive possessions. A steal and breakaway layup by DJ Lewis tied the game up with 1:21 left and Marko Protic put Knox on top by two with 35 seconds left. Following a miss by Speer, Blake Godbold hit two at the line to complete the run and put Knox up by four with only 22 seconds left.
A short
Riley Dugan basket with 13 seconds left helped keep hope alive momentarily, but Illinois College had to foul and Jonathan Damota sealed it with two free throws.
David Bauer's three-pointer at the buzzer could only bring the Blueboys within one.
Stutsman led Illinois College with 18 points on the night. Speer added 12 points, but more impressively ended with a career-high 13 assists, one short of tying the school record. The last time a Blueboy player had 13 assists in a game came on Feb. 5, 1994 when Bobby Bonjean had 13 against Knox.
Illinois College continues its road trip on Feb. 3, traveling to Grinnell College for a 3 p.m. tip-off.
