Sangamon Sun

Buzz Ritzel led the Illinois College men's basketball team to a fourth consecutive victory, scoring 31 points in a 71-62 win over Beloit at Flood Arena on Wednesday night. This win improves Illinois College's record to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in Midwest Conference play, while Beloit's record falls to 5-6 overall and 2-2 in conference action.

The Blueboys established an early lead with an Austin Robinson basket, making it 8-6 just over four minutes into the game. They maintained control throughout, extending their lead to as much as 15 points during the first half and leading by 39-24 at halftime.

In the second half, Illinois College expanded their advantage to a maximum of 20 points at one stage. Despite Beloit's efforts to close the gap to seven points with just over five minutes remaining, Ritzel secured the victory for his team by scoring twelve points in the final moments of the game.

Josh Harris contributed significantly alongside Ritzel with a double-double performance: he scored 13 points, grabbed ten rebounds, and provided four assists. Harris also reached a personal milestone by scoring his career's 1,000th point during this match. Seth Doss added another solid performance with thirteen points and eight rebounds.

"Harris became the 35th player in IC history to score 1,000 points in a Blueboy uniform," according to team statistics. The Blueboys have been successful recently, winning "42 of their last 51 games" and "59 of the past 68." Their current schedule includes seven out of eight games played on away courts.

Next up for Illinois College is another Midwest Conference matchup against Ripon on Saturday at Ripon's home court. The game is scheduled for a start time of three o'clock in the afternoon.