East Peoria, Ill.---The ICC men's basketball team gave a strong effort against Spoon River on Monday night at Ramsey Gym but were upended by the Snappers 85-76 in M-WAC and Region 24 action.  The Cougars led for most of the contest until SRC rallied in the final ten minutes to take the lead and get the win.  Lavell McIntosh recorded a double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds, Tony Mabon, Jr. added 17 points, and Jacquan Binion had 10 points in the loss for ICC, who drop to 8-10 overall and 1-3 in the M-WAC.  Spoon River moves to 9-11 overall, 2-2 in the M-WAC. 

McIntosh scored the first basket of the game on a put-back and Binion hit a runner and a three-pointer to put ICC up 7-2. On the next possession, McIntosh drew a charge on the defensive end to set the tone and keep ICC on track.  With the score 14-12, a three-pointer by Quentin Edmonds-Long sparked a 9-0 run as Judd Swanton scored inside, Josh Shannon had a put-back, and McIntosh threw down a dunk on a nice lob from Binion to give ICC a 23-12 advantage.

The Cougars kept attacking the Snapper zone, taking a 27-17 lead on another McIntosh bucket with 7:27 in the first half.  However, SRC chipped away, trailing 41-37 before McIntosh dropped in a put-back just before the halftime buzzer sounded, giving the Cougars a 43-37 lead at the half.

McIntosh corralled another offensive rebound that he cashed in for two and Binoin added a three-ball as ICC took a 48-37 lead, but the Snappers started to slowly find their way offensively.  With 12:10 remaining, Mabon, Jr. hit a jumper to put ICC up 59-56 but Spoon went on a 10-0 run to grab their first lead at 66-59.  Edmonds-Long broke the drought with a three-pointer on an assist by Binion but the Snappers held a 73-65 lead with just under 5:00 to play.  

McIntosh and Kyle Hawthorne both forced steals on the press to score back-to-back layups to close to within 73-69 but SRC answered to go up 79-72.  The Cougars again responded as Zach Lewkowski drove in for a layup and Mabon, Jr. scored on a put-back as ICC trailed just 79-76 with 1:10 to play.  ICC got a stop on the next possession and called timeout with :38 seconds left but Spoon River got a steal and turned it into a layup to go up 81-76.  The Snappers finished the game with free throws for the final margin to get the win.

Leaders:
Lavell McIntosh - 22 pts, 15 reb, 1 chg taken
Tony Mabon, Jr. - 17 pts
Jacquan Binion 10 pts, 2 asts

Next up:  The men will host Parkland College on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 pm in Ramsey Gym.  Live-stream will be available on the ICC Cougars Athletics YouTube Channel; the women's teams will play first at 5:30 pm.