LINCOLN, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team matched a school record by making 17 three-pointers on the night, but Lincoln Christian outlasted IC with a 94-90 victory on Tuesday night. The Blueboys fall to 2-3 on the season with the loss.
Lincoln Christian came ready to play, scoring on its first four shots of the game, as well as six of its first seven to take a 15-7 lead after three minutes of play. Out of a timeout,
Riley Mehrens hit a three to get the deficit back to five, but the Red Lions continued to pour in three-pointers in the early going, taking a 25-12 advantage after barely more than six minutes of action.
With the score 30-17, Illinois College got back into it with an 8-0 run with buckets from
Trevor Otten, Mehrens and
Brandon Shaon to get back within five. As the half ticked towards halftime,
Isaac Collins came off the bench and caught fire, hitting four threes to keep IC close. Lincoln Christian headed to halftime with a 52-47 edge.
Helped by three buckets early in the second half from Shaon, the Blueboys came back to tie the score for the first time at 58-58. Mehrens then scored five straight for IC to keep it knotted at 63-63 before another Collins triple gave Illinois College its first lead of the game at 66-65. Lincoln Christian responded to the adversity with an 8-0 run to go back up by seven, but
Sean McDonald answered back with a three of his own to keep the Blueboys within striking distance.
Down eight, 86-78, with under five minutes to play, the Blueboys strung together a quick 7-0 run to get within a point.
Caleb Frederking hit a pair at the line before Collins knocked in his sixth three of the game to get the deficit down to three.
Trae Robinson III then connected on a short jumper.
In the final minute of play, McDonald tied the game at 90-90 with IC's record-tying 17th three-pointer of the game. On the ensuing possession, LCU was tied up but retained possession and had two seconds left on the shot clock. The Red Lions missed a short look off the inbounds play, but scored on a putback to take a two-point lead. Illinois College turned the ball over on its inbounds pass and were forced to foul. LCU missed the front end of a one-and-one, but got the rebound once again and finally hit two at the line to seal it.
Mehrens ended with a team-high 21 points on the night, going 6-of-13 from long range. Collins ended with 18, hitting all six of his three-point attempts.
Mason Speer had yet another terrific game, scoring 12 points and setting a single-game school record with 16 assists along with six rebounds. Shaon knocked in all five of his field goals as well, scoring a career-high 10 points.
Illinois College will be off until Midwest Conference play begins at the end of the month. Next up for the Blueboys is a trip north to take on Lawrence University at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 30.
