JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team hit buzzer-beaters to tie the game at the end of the first half, second half and first overtime before outlasting Beloit College in a classic, 84-81.
Mason Speer,
Riley Mehrens and
Sean McDonald were responsible for the tying shots. Speer's heave to end the first half was SportsCenter-worthy, an off-balance baseball heave as time expired. Mehrens and McDonald then hit clutch tying three-pointers in the final seconds of the second half and overtime to prolong the game and help the Blueboys emerge with the win, improving to 5-14 (3-9 Midwest Conference).
Beloit had its largest lead of seven points early on in the first half, then matched it with less than six minutes remaining in the second half. The Blueboys battled back to lead with a 9-0 run, but a three-pointer from Darin Empereur with 10 seconds left looked like it might be the dagger for the Buccaneers. Unfazed, Mehrens got the ball on an inbounds play out of a timeout and hit an off-balance three to tie the score and send it to overtime.
Missed free throws might have doomed Illinois College in the first overtime if not for a Beloit mistake that left the door open. Up 74-72, Santiago Aguilar had an uncontested layup for the Buccaneers but pulled it out and got fouled. After hitting only one of two, IC got the ball back on a steal with seconds left and McDonald's wing triple sent the game to a second overtime.
Though the Blueboys continued to struggle at the line in the second overtime, they managed to open with a 6-0 run to take an 81-75 lead. Beloit tried to get back into it, but a number of three-point attempts were off the mark, including one at the buzzer from Mylan Walters that was blocked away by
Kane Wildermuth to seal the win.
Speer led Illinois College with 22 points and five assists.
Trae Robinson III came off the bench for a career-high 18 points. McDonald ended the day with 14, while Mehrens added 12.
Illinois College concludes a three-game home stand on Jan. 30 with a matchup against Knox College at 7:30 p.m.
