CHICAGO, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team fell in a non-conference matchup at North Park University on Friday night, 84-81. Though the Blueboys led by as many as nine, the Vikings rallied back in the second half behind 26 points from Toby Marek and 20 points from Jacquan Binion. The loss drops IC to 3-5 on the season.
Illinois College established an early lead in the contest thanks in large part to its three-point shooting. The Blueboys were 9-of-20 from behind the arc in the first half, with both
Jake Mazrimas and
Jaxson Dian knocking down three apiece. Mazrimas had two of those to cap an 8-0 run that gave IC a 28-22 lead on North Park with less than eight minutes until halftime. The lead grew to 43-34 on a three-point play from
Caleb Frederking late in the first half before the Vikings scored the final five points to cut it to 43-39 at the break.
In the second half, the Blueboys maintained its nine-point lead at 63-54 after a
Hunter Ottensmeier layup with 11:21 left. North Park responded back with a 6-0 run and then took the lead with 6:33 left on a three-pointer from Marek.
In the final minutes, the Vikings kept their lead hovering around six points until a late surge from IC.
Henry Hayer banked in a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left on the clock to cut the deficit down to 84-81. The Blueboys then forced a five-second call on the inbounds, giving them the ball back with a chance to tie. A well-executed inbounds play got
Tyler Jowett a look at the final buzzer, but his three-pointer to force overtime was long and North Park survived to win by three.
Five Illinois College players scored in double-figures, led by Mazrimas' 19 points and eight rebounds. In his first game of the season,
Caleb Frederking had 14 points and nine assists.
Mikey Adams ended with 11 and both Dian and Ottensmeier had 10.
Illinois College wraps up non-conference play on Sunday, facing Elmhurst College at 4 p.m.
