MONMOUTH, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball squad fell to Grinnell, 86-81, in the semifinals of the Midwest Conference Tournament on Friday at Glennie Gymnasium.
IC finished the season with a 17-9 overall record. Grinnell moves on to the title game with a 19-7 record.
Grinnell 86 IC 81
The Blueboys got off to a strong start, leading for the majority of the first half. IC held a lead as big as eight points on two occasions, the last coming at 24-16 with just over 11 minutes remaining but the Pioneers went on an 11-0 run to regain the lead. Grinnell led by as much as six points before IC stormed back with a run of its own and carried a 44-43 advantage at halftime.
The Pioneers took a 50-48 lead with 18:44 left and never trailed again. The lead grew to as much as 16 points (75-59 with 8:04 left) before the Blueboys began to creep back into the contest but could get no closer than the final margin of five points.
IC was led by senior
Buzz Ritzel who closed out his brilliant Blueboy career with 20 points. Classmate
Josh Harris also ended his stellar IC career with 19 points and six rebounds. Sophomore
Seth Doss scored 10 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds. Junior
Javonte McKenzie had 14 points and eight boards as well.
Blue Notes
IC concludes the season having won 66 of the past 79 (66-13) games… the contest marked the final games for the IC senior class of Ritzel, Harris, and
Matt Thompson.
