Box Score
CARLINVILLE, Ill.- Blackburn College outscored Illinois College by 16 points in the second half, helping the Beavers defeat the Blueboys by a score of 91-82 in the final non-conference matchup of the season. IC drops to 6-7 on the year. Blackburn improves to 8-5.
Illinois College found itself on the board first, with
Tim Parks drilling a three-pointer only ten seconds into the game. Blackburn College countered with a Scott Malcolm layup, leaving the game at 3-2, one minute into the half.
Brady Hays hit a three of his own to put Illinois College up, 8-4, three minutes in. Blackburn responded with a 7-0 run, capped by a Nigel Ferrell bucket, giving the Beavers their first lead of the night, 11-8.
Max Stutsman started and finished a 7-0 Illinois College run, helping the Blueboys reclaim the lead and give them a 15-11 advantage, with five minutes gone into the game. Karson Hayes hit two consecutive jumpers to bring Blackburn even, 15-15.
Following a Hayes free throw, IC went on another 7-0 run, extending the lead to 10 points, 38-28, its largest of the half. Hayes would later hit a layup to bring the Beavers back within five, 41-36, with just over a minute remaining.
Riley Dugan put Illinois College back up by 10, 46-36, with a pair of free throws. As the half expired, Reed Rusten drilled a deep three-pointer, bringing Blackburn back within seven, and ending the half with IC up, 46-39.
Ferrell kicked off the second half with another triple, pulling Blackburn within four, 46-42. Stutsman knocked down a jump-shot to extend Illinois College's lead back to six, 48-42, three minutes into the half.
Jake Lochhead converted a layup to put the finishing touches on a 12-0 Blackburn run, sending the Beavers past Illinois College for a seven point lead, 56-49, with 14 minutes left in the game.
Blackburn's lead was extended to nine, 61-52, following a Rusten three-pointer. Dugan hit a free throw to pull Illinois College within three, 61-58. McDonald was able to bring the Blueboys' deficit to two, 67-65, after converting a layup and the and-one free throw.
Stutsman brought Illinois College as close to Blackburn as the team would come, making a layup with six minutes left to cut the Beavers' lead to one, 69-68.
From there, it was all Blackburn. Duncan King hit a pair of shots from the charity stripe, giving the Beavers a 10-point advantage with under four minutes remaining, 80-70. That lead would be pushed to a game-high 13 points, 85-72, after another King basket.
McDonald drove for a fastbreak layup with 30 ticks left on the clock, bringing the score to 91-82, but that's all Illinois College could muster. IC's
David Bauer missed a three as time expired, giving Blackburn the nine-point victory.
McDonald finished with 21 points for Illinois College, as well as two blocks. Stutsman and Hays each tallied 14 points and pulled down five rebounds. Dugan scored 13 points off the bench for the Blueboys. King finished the night with 24 points for Blackburn. Ferrell added 18 points, and Rusten contributed 12 points to the Beavers' win.
Illinois College returns home for a weekend doubleheader. The Blueboys take on St. Norbert College on Jan. 12 at 5:30 p.m. The following day, Lawrence University comes into town for a 1 p.m. contest.
