West Burlington, IA - For the last time in the 2023-2024 regular season, the Illinois Central College men's basketball team (14-10 Overall, 5-4 Region 24, 3-4 MWAC) made a brief detour from its 'normal' region/conference schedule of games, heading westward to take on the D1 Southeastern Iowa Blackhawks at Loren Walker Arena on Wednesday night. The Cougars were able to hang with the hosts, but a second half surge ultimately powered Southeastern Iowa to a 85-76 victory. 

The game, effectively for its entirety, had a bit of a theme. The Blackhawks would get out to a somewhat sizable lead, and the Cougars would counter and fight it back within a score or two. In the first half, ICC was down by as many as 15 points, but worked it back down to a 37-30 halftime score. 

ICC out-scored Southeastern 12-5 to start the second half to get the game to a 42-42 tie with 16:05 left. From there, though, was a game-changing run by the Blackhawks, 10-0 to be exact, and the lead swelled to as much as 14 points. 

The Cougars continued to fight on the offensive side of the ball, getting within 60-54 with seven minutes left, but the big Southeastern run would be just what they needed, with the Blackhawks out-scoring ICC 25-21 the rest of the way on route to the 19-point win. 

COUGAR STATISTICS (Only Points were provided)
Tony Mabon Jr. | 17 points
Amariyae Wilson | 14 points
Azarion Richardson | 13 points
Damuzha Moore | 8 points
LaColis Ashby Jr. | 7 points

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
@ Lincoln Land Loggers (11-10 Overall, 6-4 Region 24, 4-3 MWAC)
Saturday, February 17th - 3:00 PM
Cass Gym - Springfield, Ill.
Watch Live (YouTube)