East Peoria, IL - The Illinois Central College Men's Basketball team (0-3, 0-0) had a home game with the Kishwaukee Kougars on Friday night, a matchup that was a return in more ways than one. While it was the official home opener after a pair of neutral-site games, it was also the return of MBB coaching and playing alumnus Matt Long, now the head coach at Kishwaukee. A hot start out of the game quickly turned to a back-and-forth battle, with the Kougars pulling away for a 80-67 victory. 

Coach Tony Wysinger had to be pleased with his team's offensive efforts at the start, with the Cougars roaring out to an 11-0 run within the game's first five minutes. 

Alas, Kishwaukee fought right back themselves, going on an 8-0 run to cut it to a one-score game. 

At that point, the see saw affair had begun, all the way into the halftime locker room. After a 28-28 tie later in the first half, both sides would trade baskets, with neither team quite able to grab momentum. Kishwaukee, however, would take a slim 38-36 lead into the break. 

Often the case in basketball is the first couple minutes of each half, becoming a good grasp of how the game will go, but also crucial in terms of the grabbing of momentum. The Kougars would capitalize on that stretch, taking a 45-41 lead. 

Despite that momentum, the Cougars continued to fight. ICC brought it all the way back to a 50-50 tie with 12 minutes left. A trey from Jaylen Brown gave ICC a lead at 53-50, but in a game of runs, Kishwaukee went on a 8-0 run to take a 58-53 lead. Although it would remain fairly close, the Kougars never surrendered that lead. 

At the four-minute media timeout in the second half, the Cougars were within 69-65, but that would be as close as they got, with Kishwaukee out-scoring ICC 11-2 at the game's end for the 13-point victory. 

STATISTICAL LEADERS
Payton Cook | 15 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks
Azarion Richardson | 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Shamar Grant | 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Jaylen Brown | 8 points, 4 rebounds

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. St. Ambrose JV Bees
Wednesday, November 13th - 7PM
at Ramsey Gym - East Peoria, IL
Watch Live (YouTube)