APPLETON, Wis. – The Illinois College men's basketball team fell in its Midwest Conference opener on Friday night at Lawrence University, 83-45. The Blueboys trailed by just seven heading into halftime, but shot less than 20 percent from the field in the second half and the Vikings took full advantage, outscoring IC by a 31-4 margin in the first 10 minutes of the second half to blow the game open. The loss sends the Blueboys to 2-4 (0-1 MWC) on the season. Lawrence improves to 3-3 (1-0 MWC).
Lawrence opened the night with a 9-0 run, putting Illinois College on its heels immediately. Despite the slow start, the Blueboys fought back as the half wore on, pulling within a point on back-to-back threes from
Riley Mehrens and
Isaac Collins. After corralling a Lawrence miss on the other end, IC had a chance to take the lead for the first time in the game but a short look inside from
Trae Robinson III hit every last part of the rim before falling off. The Vikings would follow that with a 7-0 burst and take a 36-29 lead into halftime.
Two layups to start the second half for Lawrence extended its lead to 40-29 before Collins knocked down another three to draw Illinois College back to within eight. That would be as close as the Blueboys would get the rest of the night. Nearly nine minutes went by before the next IC field goal, by which time the Vikings had ballooned their lead to more than 30. The rest of the game was simply a matter of Lawrence running out the clock as IC was unable to cut its deficit below 25 points the rest of the way.
Collins ended the night as the leading scorer for the Blueboys with nine.
Kane Wildermuth returned to action with eight points and eight rebounds. Lawrence put five players into double-figures on the night, led by Brad Sendell's 15 points.
The Blueboys have a quick turnaround, returning to action tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. to face Ripon College.
