Mattoon, IL - The Illinois Central College Men's Basketball team (3-8) concluded the 2024 portion of its 2024-25 season on Tuesday night, traveling to the Lake Land College Fieldhouse to take on the host Lakers (12-1) in a mid-week matchup. The Lakers led by as much as 16 points, but the Cougars made a ferocious comeback, ultimately falling just short, 88-82. 

FIRST HALF RECAP
The Cougars knew coming into the game that pace of play would be a key factor, particularly controlling that pace. Yet, early, it was the Lakers' tempo. Despite that, ICC was able to keep the margin within a possession or so. 

Lake Land was able to work it around the perimeter, with a couple treys pushing their lead to 16-11 at the 14:14 mark of the opening half. 

From there, though, the game remained within a possession, as the Cougars slowed pace down and were able to stay within striking distance. 

It would be a baseline floater from the Lakers that got the lead back up to five and forced ICC to call time to regroup. The lead continued to grow, as an and-one put the hosts up 31-22 with 6:05 to go until the break. 

After the lead was 16 at one point, a handoff from Payton Cook inside for Idris Thomas had cut it to single digits at 42-33 Lake Land just over two minutes until halftime. 

An offensive rebound and lay-in from Cook cut it to seven. The Cougars were able to get the ball back without the shot clock, but a layup was missed and sent the game to the half with Lake Land ahead 44-35. 

SECOND HALF RECAP
Rickey Woods III found Azarion Richardson out on the wing for a trey and cut the game to 50-44 Lake Land in the second half's infancy. Another shot from distance, this time from Isaiah Payne, made it a five point game at 52-47. 

It would be the three-point shooting efforts yet again, as Rickey Woods III knocked one down from the corner and all of a sudden, it was a one point game at 52-51 with 14:59 still to play. 

Despite the Cougar run, the Lakers continued to have answers on the other end of the floor, pushing the lead back up to multiple possessions. 

Ah, but the see-saw theme continued, with Idris Thomas knocking down a fadeaway jumper at the free throw line to make it a three-point game again. That was just the nature of the game, as by the final buzzer, there were 11 total lead changes. 

Thomas fought his way to the boards and put that rebound back up and in for a tied game at 61-61 with 10:56 to go. A steal from Shamar Grant turned into a 63-61 lead on the other end when a long two from Grant with around 10 minutes to play. Free throws from RJ Davitz pushed the advantage to 65-61. 

ICC's largest lead of the game would come when Azarion Richardson felt he had enough open space for a three and knocked it down to go ahead 68-63 with a shade over nine minutes left. 

Yet again, back came the Lakers. A free throw with 7:01 left gave Lake Land a lead at 71-70. Lead changes galore would follow. Entering the game's final media timeout, Lake Land held a slim 76-75 lead. 

The Cougars led 79-78 thanks to a Thomas free throw with just under two minutes to go. Unfortunately for their case, enough time had drained off the clock to force ICC into the fouling game. A three from Isaiah Payne cut the game to 84-82 Lakers with 20 seconds to go, but Lake Land scored the final four points of the game to secure the victory.

COUGAR STATISTICS
Payton Cook | 20 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists
Idris Thomas | 19 points, 6 rebounds
Azarion Richardson | 16 points, 4 rebounds
Isaiah Payne | 10 points, 4 assists, 2 steals
Rickey Woods III | 7 points, 3 assists
Shamar Grant | 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Cody Marcinko | 2 points, 3 assists
RJ Davitz | 2 points
Michael Womer | 3 rebounds

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
@ Scottsdale Artichokes (4-6)
at North Gymnasium - Scottsdale, AZ
Thursday, January 2nd, 2025 - 8:00 PM
Watch Live (YouTube)