Illinois Lutheran’s Collin Borns kept Beecher at bay Friday night as the host Chargers defeated the Bobcats 55-48 in the River Valley Conference.

Borns, a 6-foot-3 forward, scored a team-high 19 points, including eight straight at one point to help the Chargers to a 12-7 lead with 6:01 to play in the second quarter. He also scored six of the Chargers’ 12 points in a two-minute span midway through the fourth quarter to help Illinois Lutheran (16-5, 9-3) extend a 41-39 lead to 53-42 with 3:30 to play.

“We were just trying to come out harder on defense. Our defense turned into offense for me and everybody else,” Borns said.

Beecher (8-14, 5-6) stayed in the game thanks to a game-high 22 points from Marshall Landis.

“He got going in the second half, and that’s what we expect out of him,” Beecher coach Tony Waznonis said. “He did a great job shooting. We got the ball inside. They collapsed on us, and that opened things up for him.”

Chargers 6-10 center Austin Wood scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds.