Men's Basketball Falls In Season Series Against Blueboys

JACKSONVILLE, Ill.—The Fontbonne University men's basketball team had hopes of splitting the season series against Illinois College on Friday night, however, the Blueboys spoiled that opportunity hanging on for the 83-75 win.

Final: Illinois College 83, Fontbonne 75

How It Happened

In the first half, after Anthony Jones tied it 6-6 at the 16:29 mark the Blueboys went on a 13-2 run over the next seven minutes and four seconds leading 19-8 on Hunter Ottensmeier's layup.

Fontbonne trimmed the deficit over the next five minutes with Carter Collins layup narrowing it down to a 29-22 contest with 4:07 on the clock. However, the Blueboys closed out the final minutes on a 10-5 run to own a 39-27 advantage at the break.

Illinois College offense was humming in the first half shooting 48.3 percent from the floor and connecting on eight 3-pointers. Fontbonne had its struggles in the first 20:00 minutes shooting 37.1 percent and going 1-of-8 (12.5 percent) from beyond-the-arc.

In the second half, the Blueboys expanded its lead out to 21 (52-31) at the 14:45 mark. The Griffins continued to battle and despite shooting an improved 46.2 percent from the floor, the comeback for Fontbonne ran out of time with Illinois College going on for the eight-point win.

Head-to-Head

• The Griffins shot a season-high 41.9 percent from the floor and 80.0 percent from the charity-stripe.
• They also collected a season-high 16 offensive boards and defensively set a new season-high with 10 steals.
• Illinois College ended the night shooting 53.7 percent from the floor and made 12 3-pointers.
• Fontbonne owned a 38-35 rebounding advantage.
• The Griffins controlled the paint outscoring the Blueboys 40-24.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Anthony Jones and Elijah Rice tied for a team-high with 15 points each.
• Gus Kleekamp added a season-high with 14 points, while Noah Coddington hit a season-high of his own with 10 points.
• Brent Wagner came off the bench pulling down a team and season-high seven boards.

Up Next

The team returns home on Tuesday when they'll host Eureka in a non-conference outing. Tip-off at 6 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the men's basketball team.

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