The Beloit College men's basketball team was edged by Illinois College 66-61 in Flood Arena Saturday afternoon.
The Buccaneers jumped out to a quick 10-2 advantage spreading the ball around offensively with four different players scoring the first four buckets of the game. That was the largest lead by either team in the entire game. Over the next 37 minutes of play, the lead would change hands seven times.
The Blue Boys scored the last five points of the first half to take a 35-32 lead into the break. The Bucs were more efficient in the first 20 shooting 43-percent from the floor and 38-percent from downtown. IC was 37-percent from the field and 33-percent from three-point range in the first half.
Beloit built some momentum in the second half opening the period on a 15-6 spurt to take a six-point lead, 47-41, with just over 15 minutes to go. The Bucs held the lead for the next ten minutes until IC hit a layup with five minutes left to reclaim the advantage, 59-58. They were able to hold off the Bucs with a couple of jumpers and some free throws to close the game.
The Bucs dropped to just 35-percent from the field in the final 20 minutes ending the game at 39-percent shooting. The Blue Boys improved offensively shooting for 44-percent in the second half for a game efficiency of 40-percent from the floor.
Mylan Walters had a fantastic game for Beloit hitting 3-6 from long range and 6-7 from the charity stripe to lead all players with 21 points.
Michael Myles shot 60-percent from the floor adding 14 points in the contest.
Azeez Ganiyu and
Andrew Walters were the most active on the glass sharing team-high honors with eight rebounds a piece.
