Danville, IL - The receiving votes Illinois Central College Men's Basketball team (0-2, 0-0) wrapped up their time at the Danville Classic on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Lakers from Mid Michigan. It was quite the entertaining contest. After trailing by double figures at the break, the Cougars nearly stormed all the way back, but fell just short in the game's waning seconds, with Mid Michigan taking the game by a 81-79 final score. 

The game was certainly a tale of two halves. Headed into the locker rooms after 20 minutes, ICC had been unable to stop the streaky Mid Michigan offense, who had been shooting 63% at the time. 

It would be from the midway point of the second half until the game's end that was quite the roller coaster in and of itself. After pulling within 54-49, the Cougars would outscore the Lakers 17-10 to take a 66-64 lead at around the five minute mark of the second half. At that point, the see saw affair ensued. 

Mid Michigan would hold a 79-70 lead with three minutes to go, making a pair of stops, with a bucket from Idris Thomas, free throws from Azarion Richardson, free throw from Luke Hopp, and another Thomas bucket tied the game at 79 apiece with 45.5 seconds left. 

Setting up for a sideline out of bounds play, the Lakers ran a successful back door shot with nine seconds remaining. 

The Cougars would inbound and get the ball to half court before calling time with one second on the clock. The ball was batted out of bounds, and with 0.7 seconds to go, ICC had one more shot at it. 

Rickey Woods III got a quality look at a three pointer to win it from the corner, but it would fall away as a miss and Mid Michigan would come away with the narrow two-point victory. 

STATISTICAL LEADERS
Idris Thomas | 16 points, 11 rebounds
Azarion Richardson | 13 points, 4 assists
Payton Cook | 7 points, 5 rebounds
Isaiah Payne | 7 points, 4 assists
Michael Womer | 3 points
Luke Hopp | 9 points, 8 rebounds
Rickey Woods III | 6 points, 1 assist
Briar Cremeens | 6 points
Jeremiah Tate | 4 points, 1 assist
Cody Marcinko | 4 points
Cooper Knoll | 4 points

NOTABLE TEAM STATS
Field Goals | 27-58 (46%)
34 rebounds
11 assists

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
2024-2025 Home Opener
vs. Kishwaukee Kougars (0-0)
Friday, November 8th - 6PM
at Ramsey Gym - East Peoria, IL
Watch Live (YouTube)

FRIDAY IS A RETURN HOME... IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE
Kishwaukee is led by head coach Matt Long, who was an assistant coach for ICC from 2019-2024 and played under Coach Tony Wysinger from 2014 until 2017.