JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team overcame a poor shooting night from beyond the arc by picking up its defense in the second half and putting together a plus-16 rebounding advantage in an 81-71 win over Lincoln Christian University on Friday night. The Blueboys now advance to the championship game of the Bill Merris Tournament to face Carroll University tomorrow at 4 p.m.
Nothing came easy against the Red Lions. Though
Deandre Enoch opened the scoring with a putback in the opening minute, Lincoln Christian came back with a 9-2 run that put them ahead by five with six minutes gone in the contest. Even as the Blueboys began to find more of a rhythm on offense, LCU never back down, hitting 6-of-11 three-pointers in the opening half to answer back whenever a bucket was needed.
The last three of the half for the Red Lions was from Jannssen Flotow and it tied the game up at 29-29. Nate Parks then gave LCU a 33-31 lead with 90 seconds left in the half before the Blueboys closed on a 7-0 run with points from Enoch,
Justin Kellogg and
Jake Mazrimas to take a 38-33 lead into the break.
Six straight points from Enoch early in the second half gave Illinois College its largest lead to that point in the game at 44-35, but a combination of triples and free throws brought Lincoln Christian back into it and gave the visitors a 49-48 lead on a pair at the line from Cornelius Lawhorn. That woke the Blueboys up and a 12-0 run ensued over the next five minutes. Mazrimas had eight in that stretch, with
TJ Ervin and
Jaxson Dian providing the other baskets.
The Red Lions made one last push to pull within six, but the Blueboys simply had too many offensive options down the stretch. The trio of Enoch, Mazrimas and
Tre Rogers combined for 30 of IC's 43 second-half points to carry the load after halftime.
Mazrimas had his second career double-double with another big stat line of 21 points, 18 boards and three blocks. Enoch ended with 19 on the night and Rogers added 11. Garrett Aeilts led the Red Lions with 17.
Carroll (3-0) was a 73-62 winner over Central College in the other semifinal on Friday evening. The Pioneers, former members of the Midwest Conference, will meet the Blueboys for the first time since 2015-16. Saturday starts with the third-place game between Lincoln Christian and Central at 2 p.m., with the Blueboys and Pioneers to follow at 4 p.m.
