East Peoria, Ill. - The ICC men's basketball team (11-5 Overall, 3-1 Region 24, 1-1 MWAC) tipped off a three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon, welcoming the Lincoln Land Loggers for the Cougars' second game of Midwest Athletic Conference (MWAC) play at Ramsey Gym. ICC did their best to hang with the Loggers, with both halves' margins exactly at 10 points. However, Lincoln Land's hot shooting day was the ultimate decider, as the Loggers left East Peoria with a 73-53 victory.
The game got off to a unique start, as Lincoln Land was assessed a rare pregame technical, off of which
Amariyae Wilson made a free throw for a 1-0 lead without a second having ticked off the clock. ICC held a 3-2 lead at the 18:24 mark of the first half, but that, outside of 1-0, would be the only Cougar advantage of the opening 20 minutes.
LaColis Ashby Jr. made a layup with 13:47 left in the first half for a mere 9-7 Logger lead. Alas, Lincoln Land began to swell the margin a bit more, taking the game's first 10-point lead at 21-11 with 9:20 until the break. Both squads proceeded to go scoreless for nearly three minutes of play, but despite the Loggers snapping the game's cold streak, it wouldn't really affect the margin.
Azarion Richardson traded threes with the Loggers at the 1:01 and 0:41 points to give the visitors a 33-23 lead at halftime.
Out of the halftime locker room, Lincoln Land went on a run. A three and a pair of layups expanded the largest lead to 15 points with 18:22 still left in the game. Another Logger layup with 14:02 left created the game's first 20-point lead.
After Richardson made a jumper with 9:06 to go and a 61-40 Logger score, the Cougars offense stalled out until 5:13 was on the clock, when a jumper from
Tony Mabon Jr. ended the drought. Mabon would go on a personal 6-0 run over a 36-second stretch to pull ICC within 63-45 with 4:37 on the clock. That would be the last time the game was within a 20-point margin. Lincoln Land would indeed come away with the aforementioned 20-point win.
COUGARS STATISTICS
Tony Mabon Jr. | 14 points, 4 rebounds
Isaiah Donnell | 13 points, 4 rebounds
Azarion Richardson | 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
LaColis Ashby Jr. | 10 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals
Amariyae Wilson | 3 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
Payton Cook | 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. Bryant & Stratton (WI) Bobcats (13-5)
Monday, January 22nd - 6:00 PM
@ Ramsey Gym - East Peoria, Ill.
Watch Live (YouTube)
