- Last Updated:Fri, 7/04 10:42 am
BISMARCK — With leading scorer Mike Renner unable to play because of a stomach flu, Uni lost to Fisher 60-42 Saturday night in the third-place game of the Hayden's Classic holiday tourney at Bismarck-Henning High School.
The Illineks, now 9-3 overall, finished the three-day, 12-team tournament in fourth place with a 3-2 record.
Last year Uni went 1-4 in the Hayden's Classic, placing eighth out of 12 teams. That Illinek squad entered the new year 5-9 overall.
In Saturday's contest, seniors Chumar Williams and Austin Rundus led Uni in scoring with 16 points each. Rundus sank 4 treys while Williams hit twice from 3-point range. No other Illinek scored more than 4 points.
Williams and Renner each made the all-tournament team, with Renner named MVP of the Heritage bracket. Fisher's Mitch Elkins, who scored a game-high 26 against Uni, was MVP of the Bismarck-Henning bracket.
Renner's absence from the Fisher game definitely made a difference on the scoreboard. The senior averaged 17.0 points per game in Uni's first four matches of the tournament.
In fact, his output improved with each contest: 10 vs. Heritage in the first game, 13 vs. Georgetown-Ridge Farm in the second, 19 vs. Salt Fork (a co-op team from Jamaica and Catlin high schools) in the third, and 26 (including 3 treys) vs. Atwood-Hammond in the fourth.
Still, even without Renner, the Illineks started strong against Fisher, building a 15-10 lead by the end of the first quarter. But the Bunnies outscored Uni 12-3 in the second period to take a 22-18 advantage into halftime.
The second half belonged to the Bunnies as they cruised to an 18-point victory, raising their record to 12-4. In the tourney championship game, Salt Fork defeated Bismarck-Henning 62-58.
The Illineks will be back on the court Friday at Kenney Gym as they host Decatur Christian in an East Central Illinois Conference game. The JV will play at 6 p.m., with varsity action to follow.
Although Uni has a 1-0 record in the ECIC, the upcoming game will be the first time the varsity has played a conference match this season, since it was the JV who took the floor in the Illineks' 40-23 win over varsity-only Buckley Christ Lutheran on Dec. 18.
2007-08 VARSITY RECORD: 9-3
Hayden's Classic tourney record: 3-2 (second place, Heritage bracket; fourth place overall)
Note: Tournament results are listed in chronological order
All-tournament team: Mike Renner (MVP, Heritage bracket), Chumar Williams
1 p.m. THURSDAY: Uni 67, Heritage 32
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6:30 p.m. THURSDAY: Uni 63, Georgetown-Ridge Farm 41
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10 a.m. FRIDAY: Salt Fork 71, Uni 64
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5 p.m. FRIDAY: Uni 59, Atwood-Hammond 42
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6 p.m. SATURDAY: Fisher 60, Uni 42
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