Danville, Ill. - The ICC men's basketball program (7-15, 0-6) was at Mary Miller Gym in Danville on Saturday afternoon, battling with the hosts and 13th-ranked Danville Area Jaguars (17-4, 6-0). On paper, it certainly looked to be a competitive one. The Jaguars had won by 10 points in East Peoria earlier this season, and the Cougars have fought right down to the wire against multiple nationally-ranked opponents. This game would be no different. The Jaguars led by as much as 19 around the midway point of the second half, and the Cougars fought back to within six with just 3:30 to go, but a cold-shooting finish plagued ICC and the Cougars would come away with a narrow 76-66 loss. 

The first half played fairly even. Danville Area had only out-shot the Cougars by 3.6% from the field and led by 12 at the break. But it was the Jaguars' three-point shooting that gave them that double figure lead. Danville was 6-11 after 20 minutes to ICC's 1-3. 

The Jaguars were able to expand their lead out of the halftime locker room to that aforementioned 19-point spread, a margin that would be their largest by game's end. Alas, a strong-shooting half for ICC (55.2% to be exact) powered the visitors from a potentially insurmountable margin to a two-possession game. Unfortunately, the Cougars hot start to the half could not finish as such and the Jaguars capitalized, pulling away with the 10-point win. Ultimately, the Jaguars had gone 22-27 at the charity stripe and controlled the boards by a 46-25 margin in the win. 

ICC looks to potentially go over .500 at home (currently 4-5), and there are plenty of opportunities to do so, with a three-game home stand on the horizon. The Cougars, for that matter, only have three true road games remaining this season. 

STATISTICAL LEADERS
Lavell McIntosh | 17 points, 7 rebounds
Keaundre Cooper | 14 points
Joshua Shannon | 10 points

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. Rend Lake Warriors (7-15)
Monday, February 13th - 6:00 PM
@ Ramsey Gym - East Peoria, Ill.
WATCH LIVE (YouTube)