Godfrey, IL - The Illinois Central College Men's Basketball team (6-15 Overall, 2-5 Region 24) went south to River Bend Arena to take on the Lewis & Clark Trailblazers (6-15 Overall, 3-5 Region 24) on Wednesday night, which also happened to be Head Coach Tony Wysinger's birthday. The game was quite close throughout, but the Cougars were unable to prevail, as the Trailblazers came away with a 67-62 winner.
FIRST HALF RECAP
Both teams went cold to start, with the game's first points for either team not coming until Rickey Woods III hit a jumper from the right wing for a 2-0 lead two and a half minutes in. From there, teams would trade baskets, and no momentum was truly there. ICC did make an 8-2 run starting around the 15 minute mark of the half, capped by a bucket from Idris Thomas, but Lewis & Clark answered on the other end to keep the game within a possession.
Shamar Grant found Idris Thomas for a breakaway dunk and a 15-11 lead with 10:30 until the half. Payton Cook, defended to some degree by three Trailblazers, hit a tough turnaround jumper for a 17-13 lead.
A two-point lead quickly became six when Cook layed it in off a baseline set play, followed by Grant picking off the inbounds pass and feeding Isaiah Payne for a lay-in, forcing a Lewis & Clark timeout with ICC now up 22-16.
The Cougars would work that margin up a bit to 27-20 when Jaylen Brown hit an off-balance three with 5:45 until the break. Lewis & Clark would out-score ICC the rest of the half, 8-6, keeping the halftime margin similar at 33-28.
SECOND HALF RECAP
The Trailblazers would leave the locker room re-energized, and get within a point at 35-34 with 16:48 to go. A three roughly 40 seconds later tied the game at 37-37, and at the 15:37 mark, a free throw gave the hosts their first lead of the game at 38-37.
It would be back to the free throws, as one from Idris Thomas kept the game tied at 44-all with 13:20 left. Thomas would have a loose ball fall into his hands and lay it in for a 48-48 tie with 9:45 to go. That would continue to be a theme of the half. Perhaps Lewis & Clark would knock a shot down to go up a possession or so, but the Cougars had an answer on the other end, oftentimes tying the game back up. Yet they were unable to take the lead.
That was, until Woods knocked down free throws to go up 53-51 with 8:48 left. Another lead after a tie came by way of a step-through from Jeremiah Tate to go up 55-53 with 7:30 left. Rinse and repeat - a Woods free throw put the Cougars ahead 56-55 with 6:20 on the clock.
After numerous ties, Lewis & Clark would take the lead again on a layup with 5:56 left at 57-56. ICC, though, countered, and took a 60-59 lead on an Azarion Richardson layup with 3:45 to go.
From there, however, the Trailblazers put the clamps down, out-scoring the Cougars 8-2 in the final couple minutes to set the margin.
COUGAR STATISTICS
Idris Thomas | 19 points, 6 rebounds
Rickey Woods III | 11 points, 2 rebounds
Jaylen Brown | 9 points, 2 rebounds
Jeremiah Tate | 6 points, 4 assists
RJ Davitz | 5 points
Payton Cook | 4 points, 3 rebounds
Azarion Richardson | 4 points
Isaiah Payne | 2 points, 2 assists
Cooper Knoll | 2 points, 2 rebounds
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
2025 Hall of Fame Day
vs. SEMO Prep Wolves (no W-L available online)
Saturday, February 1st - 3:00 PM Tipoff
at Ramsey Gym - East Peoria, Illinois
Watch Live (HUDL-TV)
