Sangamon Sun

The Illinois College men's basketball team secured a victory over Benedictine with a score of 86-82 at the Dan and Ada Rice Center in Lisle, Illinois. The Blueboys started strong by scoring the first 11 points and maintained their lead throughout the game. This win marked their second consecutive victory, improving their overall record to 8-4, while Benedictine fell to 3-8.

Illinois College led by as much as 12 points during the first half and entered halftime with a ten-point advantage at 38-28. Despite Benedictine's efforts to close the gap in the second half, coming within two points at one stage, Illinois College managed to extend their lead back to ten points late in the game.

Buzz Ritzel and Javonte McKenzie were top scorers for Illinois College, each contributing 22 points. Ty Lenhardt added 19 points, and Seth Doss recorded 12 points along with eight rebounds.

"The 86 points were a season-high," noted sources familiar with the team's performance, surpassing their previous high of 81 against Concordia of Wisconsin on November 15th. Additionally, Josh Harris is nearing a personal milestone with his career total reaching 975 points as he aims for membership in the prestigious 1,000-point club.

The Blueboys have demonstrated consistent success recently, winning "40 of their last 49 games" and "57 of the past 66." Their non-conference record stands impressively at "23-3 in its last 26" matchups.

Looking ahead, Illinois College will return to Midwest Conference play this Saturday when they host Monmouth at Sherman Gymnasium. The game is scheduled for a start time of 3:00 pm.