JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team won its fourth-straight contest, posting a thrilling 69-66 win in overtime over Lawrence in a Midwest Conference game on Saturday inside Sherman Gymnasium.
The Blueboys improved to 9-9 overall and 6-3 in conference play. The Vikings are now 10-8 and 3-6.
IC 69 Lawrence 66 (ot)
The contest was tight from the beginning as IC jumped out to a quick six-point lead nine and a half minutes into the game, but then Lawrence took over. The Vikings held the lead for the remainder of the period at the 6:51 mark and raised that advantage to as much as eight (30-22). Lawrence thenenjoyed a 35-29 lead at the break.
Lawrence controlled the early stages of the second period, pushing its lead to as much as nine (40-31) with 18:47 to play but the Blueboys would not go away. IC clawed back and eventually took a 47-45 lead with 12:42 remaining. The Vikings again answered and led 61-53 with 5:17 to go. They would hold that lead until the Blueboys'
Jayden McCoo's 3pt. field goal with under 10 seconds to play tied the game at 64. Lawrence's desperation shot at the buzzer fell short and the contest went into overtime.
In the extra period, IC got five free throws, two each from
Andrew Thomas and
Ty Lenhardt and a game-clincher from McCoo with two seconds to play to seal the victory.
IC had a balanced attack with five players scoring in double figures led by Lenhardt's game-high 17.
DeShawn Nolan, Thomas, and McCoo all had 12 while
Seth Doss had 10. Doss (a game-high 13 rebounds) and Thomas (10 boards) each had double-doubles while Nolan handed out a game-high five assists. Thomas also recorded four steals to lead the victors.
Up Next
It's back on the road for the Blueboys as they travel to Galesburg to face Knox on Tuesday for a Midwest Conference contest that tips-off at 5:30 p.m.
