East Peoria, IL - The Illinois Central College Men's Basketball team (5-11 Overall, 2-1 Region 24) took on the Lincoln Land Loggers (3-13 Overall, 1-3 Region 24), as the Cougars were continuing their three-game homestand at Ramsey Gym. A somewhat slow offensive start for both sides eventually became an offensive propulsion for the Cougars, on route to a convincing 74-49 Region victory.
FIRST HALF RECAP
A pair of Rickey Woods III free throws with 16:47 left in the first half got the Cougars out to an early 7-0 lead. The Loggers would counter, however, getting within 7-6 at the 15:32 mark.
Turnovers by both sides kept the scoreboard somewhat dormant, until the 11:45 mark of the first half, when a Jaylen Brown putback sparked what eventually became a 11-0 run. A Brown three-pointer, Cooper Knoll forced turnover, and a Payton Cook tip-in took ICC from a two-point lead to up 21-8 with still eight minutes to go in the first half. Cook also hit a nifty reverse lay-in to extend the lead to 15 points.
Add to that, around the half's mid-section, ICC was able to reach the bonus, so capitalizing on free throw opportunities would be important to widen the gap. The run would eventually end at 13-0, with a pair of Jeremiah Tate free throws making it 24-8.
Once Lincoln Land had snapped that run, they played improved offense down the stretch, with the Cougars only out-scoring them 12-8 through the halftime break, at which ICC led 36-16.
SECOND HALF RECAP
The Cougars would be the first team to 40 fairly quickly out of the locker room, with a short-range bucket from Cook giving ICC a 40-18 advantage.
Lincoln Land would counter again, this time to the tune of a 6-0 run to make it 40-24 Cougars at the first media timeout of the half with 15:54 to go.
ICC was able to push the lead to 20 points when a driving Azarion Richardson found Shamar Grant in the corner for a three-pointer to go up 49-27 with 13:07 left. A Richardson steal and lay-in made it 64-33 with 8:20 to go, as there continued to be no evident halftime layover for the Cougars.
A Thomas steal became a Grant lob back to Thomas on the other end for a thunderous dunk and a 70-40 lead.
Now, Lincoln Land would out-score ICC 9-4 the rest of the game, but the Cougars had the gap they needed, ultimately getting the aforementioned 25-point margin of victory.
COUGAR STATISTICS
Payton Cook | 18 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist
Jaylen Brown | 13 points, 2 rebounds
Idris Thomas | 11 points, 4 rebounds
Azarion Richardson | 10 points, 5 rebounds
Jeremiah Tate | 8 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists
Shamar Grant | 5 points, 2 assists
Rickey Woods III | 4 points, 3 assists
RJ Davitz | 2 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Michael Womer | 1 point, 3 rebounds
Cooper Knoll | 1 point, 3 rebounds
Cody Marcinko | 3 rebounds
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. (RV) St. Louis Archers (11-7)
at Ramsey Gym - East Peoria, IL
Saturday, January 18th - 3:00 PM
Watch Live (HUDL-TV)
