JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team pushed the Midwest Conference leaders on Saturday, but the Blueboys couldn't overcome a solid shooting performance that was marred by 20 turnovers in an 87-74 loss to St. Norbert College. IC drops to 5-16 (3-11 MWC), while the Green Knights solidify their place at the top of the conference at 18-3 (13-1 MWC).
St. Norbert opened the game on a 10-2 run and had the lead up to nine at 14-5 before Illinois College rallied back to knot the score at 16-16 on a three-pointer from
Riley Mehrens and take a 19-16 lead on another three from
Jake Mazrimas. Another Mazrimas trey gave the Blueboys their largest lead of the day at 26-22, but the Green Knights answered back from there with a 14-0 run. That 10-point margin for St. Norbert held up until halftime, with the visitors taking a 43-33 edge.
The Green Knights took their lead up to 13 points in the first two minutes of the second half, but Illinois College refused to go quietly.
Jaxson Dian cut into the lead with back-to-back three-pointers to make it 48-41. Later on, a 10-2 run for IC culminated in another Mehrens three-pointer to level the score at 59-59. After a St. Norbert three, the Blueboys came right back with a bucket from
Trae Robinson III and a go-ahead triple from Mazrimas to take a 64-62 lead.
Showing why they are on top of the MWC, St. Norbert rose to the occasion and went on an 11-0 run to build a nine-point cushion with under five minutes to play. Illinois College offered a bit of resistance, cutting it to 73-69 with 3:30 to go, but time was working against the Blueboys and the Green Knights made the plays they needed to down the stretch.
Robinson III led Illinois College with 17 points on the afternoon. Mehrens and Mazrimas each ended with 15, knocking down five three-pointers apiece.
Next up for the Blueboys is a midweek trip to take on Grinnell College. IC will square off with the Pioneers starting at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 12.
