East Peoria, IL - It was time for Coach Tony Wysinger and the Illinois Central College Men's Basketball team (3-5 Overall, 0-1 Region 24) to finally tip off the Region 24 portion of the 2024-25 schedule, and first up on the slate were the Warriors from Rend Lake. The Cougars swept the series last season, but only by one and three points, respectively. Saturday's game was different, as the Warriors would take control, particularly in the second half, on their way to a 75-56 victory over ICC. 

The game certainly got off to a unique start, with the Cougars being assessed an administrative technical foul during warmups for dunking, a rule that is no longer in place at the four-year level, but obviously, still takes effect at the NJCAA level. Alas, the Warriors missed the technical free throw and the game would in fact start at 0-0.

A big block from Cody Marcinko kept Rend Lake at a slim 2-0 lead less than a minute in. On ICC's next offensive possession, a tough finish in the lane for Payton Cook gave the Cougars their first points of the afternoon. 

Rickey Woods III fought off contact inside for a lay-in and ICC's first lead of the game at 6-4 with 17:09 left in the first half. Tight on-ball defense from Isaiah Payne would frustrate his offensive counterpart and draw an offensive foul to maintain an 8-6 Cougar advantage at that point. 

Meanwhile, a Warrior layup against the right baseline gave them the game's first lead of 10+ points at 27-27 with 4:45 to go until halftime, but Jeremiah Tate would immediately answer on the other end with a trey and cut it back to single digits. 

A floater in the lane from the Warriors would ultimately set the halftime score in favor of the visitors at 32-23, but not without Payne nearly hitting a Cougar half court shot, with his valiant attempt bouncing off the backboard and just a bit too far to the front end of the rim for it to be successful, and the lead remained at nine after 20 minutes. 

Rend Lake would knock down an open three-pointer to take another double figure lead at 42-32 with around 15:30 left. 

Tate would work his way through the lane and draw contact for an and-one with 13:31 remaining. The three-point play would be converted, cutting the Warrior lead to 46-39. 

Rend Lake would go up 49-39 and take a 10-point lead yet again. The margin could get to that point, but seemingly wouldn't get any larger, as the Cougars were able to keep the game within that range.

Meanwhile, a Warrior layup gave them a new largest lead of 12 at the half's midway point. A layup on their next offensive possession made it 14, and with the game perhaps slipping away, Coach Wysinger wanted a timeout, now trailing 53-39. 

Jaylen Brown would knock down a deep trey in front of the ICC bench to cut the game to 55-44, but a reverse layup from Rend Lake on the other end kept the margin at 13. 

A Tate floater got the game back to its seemingly common 10-point gap at 59-49 with just under six minutes to go. A free throw from Azarion Richardson put the Cougars back within 10 at 60-51 with 4:55 to go.  

Perhaps the dagger, the Warriors hit a corner three with four minutes to go and went back up 12 at 4:00 remaining in the game. The rest of the way, it would go 10-3 Warriors, and they'd come away with the 19-point win. 

COUGAR STATISTICS
Jeremiah Tate | 15 points, 4 rebounds
Payton Cook | 14 points, 7 rebounds
Jaylen Brown | 11 points
Rickey Woods III | 6 points
Azarion Richardson | 4 points, 2 rebounds
Shamar Grant | 2 points, 2 steals
Cooper Knoll | 2 points
Cody Marcinko | 4 rebounds
Isaiah Payne | 3 assists
Briar Cremeens | 2 rebounds

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
@ Bryant & Stratton (WI) Bobcats (8-4 Overall, 4-0 Region 4)
Tuesday, December 10th - 6:00 PM CST Tipoff
at Bloechl Center - Mount Mary University - Wauwatosa, WI
Watch Live (PrestoStream)
*Bobcats won at Ramsey Gym 74-67 on November 18th*