Jacksonville, Ill. — Men's Basketball competed in the opening game of the Bill Merris Invitational hosted by Illinois College this evening. Illinois Tech lost to Central (IA) 99-71. The Scarlet Hawks scored 48 points in the paint, but made two of nine from 3-point range while the Dutch hit 16 of 39. The Scarlet Hawks are 0-2 overall. The Dutch are 2-0 overall.
How It Happened
The Dutch scored the first five points and led 14-8 after Braylon Thomsen's 3-pointer, but the Scarlet Hawks stayed within 14-11 when
Nikolai Stanic scored inside and added the free throw at 15:21. The Dutch followed with an eight-point stretch, getting baskets from Gilbert Flagel, Kyle Cason and Carson Jones to move ahead 22-11 before
Aris Duni, Stanic and
Pharaoh Amadi scored during the Scarlet Hawks' push to 25-18. The Dutch pushed the margin back out with perimeter scoring, including 3-pointers from Boaz Clark and Ryker Sanders, and after
Nick Galati hit a 3-pointer and added the free throw to make it 39-26 at 7:31, the Dutch scored the next 10 points to reach 49-26. The Dutch continued to convert turnovers and 3-pointers late, while the Scarlet Hawks got baskets from Amadi and
Igor Filipovic and late free throws from
Larenzo Floyd before the Dutch finished the first half ahead 65-35.
Duni scored inside after
James Pilapil's offensive rebound to start the Scarlet Hawks' second-half scoring at 65-37, but the Dutch answered with a transition layup, Brad Curren's 3-pointer and Kyle Cason's fastbreak layup to make it 72-37. Galati hit a 3-pointer and Filipovic and Duni added baskets as the Scarlet Hawks traded scores, before the Dutch reached 87-48 on Gilbert Flagel's 3-pointer at 12:10. The Scarlet Hawks put together an 11-0 stretch from 11:50 to 8:20, with Stanic scoring twice and the defense helping hold the Dutch scoreless through four straight Dutch turnovers, but Sage Suntken's 3-pointer started a Dutch response that pushed the score to 97-59. The Scarlet Hawks added a late 6-0 run capped by Duni's layup off an assist from
Omar Salman at 2:29, then got baskets from Salman, Filipovic and
Brendan Nesbary in the closing minutes as the Dutch finished off a 99-71 win.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Igor Filipovic
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- 16 points
- 6/10 field goals made
- 3 rebounds
Pharaoh Amadi
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- 11 points
- 5/9 field goals made
Aris Duni
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- 10 points
- 5/9 field goals made
James Pilapil
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- 3 assists
- 2 steals
Obrad Kuzmanovic
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- 2 blocks
- 3 rebounds
Dutch Top Performers
Kyle Cason
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- 18 points
- 7/11 field goals made
- 4/7 3-pointers made
- 5 rebounds
Owen Schipper
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- 13 points
- 7 rebounds
- 6 assists
- 6/9 field goals made
Boaz Clark
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- 14 points
- 4/7 3-pointers made
- 3 assists
Brad Curren
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- 9 points
- 3/4 3-pointers made
- 6 assists
- 0 turnovers
Braylon Thomsen
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- 13 points
- 4/4 free throws made
- 3 assists
Game Notes:
- This was the first meeting between the Scarlet Hawks and the Dutch.
- Filipovic - Scored a career-high 16 points, surpassing their previous best of nine.
- Amadi - Set a season high with 11 points.
- Duni - Recorded a season-high 10 points.
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will face Westminster College(MO) on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m. in Jacksonville, Ill., in the finale of the Bill Merris Invitational.
