JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team dropped its opening conference game, falling to Cornell, 71-67, on Wednesday at Sherman Gymnasium.
The loss dropped IC to 5-2 overall and 0-1 in Midwest Conference play while the Rams moved to 5-2 and 1-0.
Cornell 71 IC 67
The opening half was tightly contested for the first 15 minutes before IC went on an 8-0 run to take a 28-20 advantage with 5:04 left. It was the largest lead either team enjoyed in the first half before the Blueboys took a 32-28 lead into halftime.
IC got its lead up to as much as nine (42-33) in the early stages of the second half and led by six (48-42) with 13:11 to play before the Rams made their comeback. A 10-0 Cornell run put them up 52-48 with just over 10 minutes left. The Blueboys came back to regain the lead and were up 63-59 with 4:20 left but couldn't shake free. The Rams took the lead for good thanks to three free throws by Caleb Leslie with 1:21 to play and held of the Blueboys for the win.
Buzz Ritzel led IC with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Josh Harris added 19 points while
Seth Doss had 10 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.
Ty Lenhardt chipped in with 12 points.
Blue Notes
IC has won 37 of its last 44 games and 54 of the past 61… the Blueboys are 21-3 in their past 24 non-conference regular season games…. Ritzel now has 968 career points while Harris sits at 942 in their quest to join the 1,000 career-point club at IC.Â
Up Next
The Blueboys are back into conference play on Saturday when Ripon comes to Jacksonville for a 3:00 p.m. contest.
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