East Peoria, Ill. - A white-hot start to the game for the Illinois Central College men's basketball team (13-8 Overall, 5-3 Region 24, 3-3 MWAC) was more than enough, as the Cougars coasted at home to a 91-70 home win over John Wood (13-8 Overall, 5-2 Region 24, 4-2 MWAC) in Region 24/MWAC action at Ramsey Gym on Saturday afternoon. 

John Wood hit a three-pointer to start the game up 3-0, but that would effectively be their last lead of the game. ICC would hit a three of their own to go up 5-3, and the Cougars never trailed again. Amariyae Wilson lobbed it up for a LaColis Ashby Jr. slam dunk and a 7-3 lead just a couple minutes in. Ultimately, the margin swelled to a massive degree, with ICC going on a 19-2 run, capped by a fast-break trey from Tony Mabon Jr. to force the Blazers to use a timeout at the 15:29 mark, now behind 19-5. That being said, the run actually wasn't even over yet. ICC would go on an 8-0 run out of the timeout as well.

Ashby Jr. hit a transition three from the point for the game's first 20-point lead, with the Cougars ahead 32-10 at the half's midway point. ICC would break 40 with some Isaiah Donnell free throw tries, an area in which the Cougars excelled, going a perfect 14-14 by game's end. Donnell's free throws made it 41-21 with just under six minutes left until the break. 

John Wood worked it all the way down to a 14-point game at 45-31, but the teams went 2-2 scoring the last 90+ seconds of the first half, giving ICC a 47-33 lead at halftime. 

After Azarion Richardson got a pass to Payton Cook in the corner, Cook saw room on the baseline and drove in for a slam, putting the Cougars ahead 59-43 with 14:00 to go, and forcing another John Wood timeout. 

The Blazers, despite the need to call time, just would not go away. Granted, the Cougars continued to lead, but John Wood was doing enough work on the offensive side of the ball to keep the game's margin right where it was, in the 10-15 point range. Richardson got an offensive rebound and a putback to put ICC over the 80-point plateau for the fifth time in 2023-24. 

Israel Barnett found Richardson on the fast break for a bucket that may have sat on the rim longer than the time it took to get from one end of the floor to the other. Alas, the ball fell through the net and gave ICC another 20-point advantage, this time at 83-62 with just over four minutes left. 

The Cougars and John Wood would play to an 8-8 draw the rest of the way, with a Barnett trey in front of the ICC bench wrapping up an impressive 91-point afternoon. Points don't seem to ever be at a premium between these two programs, 89 and 103 points in the two meetings with the Blazers last year as well. 

COUGAR STATISTICS
LaColis Ashby Jr. | 25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals
Tony Mabon Jr. | 19 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Azarion Richardson | 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Isaiah Donnell | 14 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
Payton Cook | 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Israel Barnett | 8 points
Amariyae Wilson | 4 assists
Cody Marcinko | 2 rebounds
Cameron Weed | 2 rebounds

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. Black Hawk Braves (11-12 Overall)
@ Ramsey Gym - East Peoria, Ill.
Thursday, February 8th - 7:00 PM
Watch Live (YouTube)