After falling behind early, the Beavers tied the game at five with a MYCHAL HILL (London/Jon. Alder) three-pointer from BRENT FARLEY (Lima/Shawnee) at the 18:09 mark. The Beavers took their first lead of the game at 7-5 a minute later when Farley picked up a steal and found NICK LEE (Mt. Blanchard/Vanlue) who pushed the ball up the court and hit senior JORDAN POTHAST (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) for a layup.

 

The fourth tie (11-11) of the night came at the 12:36 mark when JOSH FISHER(Rockford/Parkway) got to the rack. The Beavers went up 16-11 following another basket by Josh Fisher. This time he stepped back and connected from beyond the arc thanks to a slick feed from ORRY MOUGHLER (Butler, Ind./Eastside).

 

Bluffton's lead dipped to two points (16-14) with 10:08 left in the half after a jumper by JACOB TUCKER. That lead would be the last for Bluffton as Illinois College went up by three at the 6:23 mark following a CRAIG BALS layup.

 

For the second straight game, the Beavers struggled near the end of the half as the Blue Boys went on a 16-7 run during the final 6:34 of the period. JACOB TUCKER'S three-pointer at the buzzer gave Illinois College a comfortable 39-27 lead at the break.

 

Brent Farley got to the free throw line on Bluffton's first possession of the second half and split the pair of freebies, making the score 39-28 in favor of the Blue Boys. On Bluffton's next possession Nick Lee connected with Fisher for a three-pointer to get the deficit back to single digits, 39-31.

 

With 11:29 left, SCOTT SCHNIPKE (Kalida) came off the bench and converted two free throws to make it an eight-point game (48-40). The Blue Boys responded to the challenge, this time using the triple as their primary weapon. Craig Bals hit a three at the 7:41 mark, and a minute later Jacob Tucker extended the lead (57-41) with a trifecta of his own.

 

The Beavers pulled within 11 (61-50) at the 3:17 mark with a TYLER BRAIDIC(Pandora/Gilboa) three-pointer, but that was the last bucket the Beavers hit as Illinois cruised to the 65-50 win.

 

JOSH EICHAR (North Baltimore) led Bluffton in scoring, dropping in 12 points on 4-7 shooting from the floor. Brent Farley had another solid all-around game with 11 points, three assists, two blocks, three steals and a team-high eight rebounds. For his efforts, Farley was named to the McDonald's All-Tournament Team. Nick Lee led the team in assists with four. The Beavers attempted 25 threes, connecting on just 7 of them for 28 percent.

 

The Blue Boys were paced by Jacob Tucker with 18 points. DEVIN GILMAN, David Stewart and Jacob Tucker grabbed nine rebounds apiece. NATHAN KOHLER handed out a team-high five assists in the game. Craig Bals, who scored 20 in the loss to Goshen and 15 in Wednesday's win over Bluffton, was named to the All-Tournament Team.

 

Also named to the All-Tournament Team were MVP ERICK MCCOLLUM II and NATE WEST JR. from tournament champion Goshen and KRAIG UNGER and TEVENN JONES from UC-Clermont. McCollum torched the competition with a tournament-record 36 points on 11-of-20 shooting in the final. He was 4-of-9 on triples and 10-of-11 at the line. The senior guard pulled down a game-high 15 caroms, dished out seven assists, blocked four shots, came up with four steals and threw down a dunk for good measure in the championship game. McCollum's 34 points in the semifinal victory gave him 70 total points on 24-of-42 shooting, including a 7-of-14 performance from distance on Tuesday night.