East Peoria, IL - The Illinois Central College Men's Basketball team (11-19 Overall, 6-8 Region 24) played its final home game and celebrated Sophomore Day on Saturday afternoon at Ramsey Gym, when they hosted the Lewis & Clark Trailblazers (9-20 Overall, 5-9 Region 24). A close game saw a 10-point margin at half, before the Cougars pulled away in the second half, and the Trailblazers scored a few in garbage time to set a 78-65 final score in favor of ICC.
FIRST HALF RECAP
Michael Womer got the scoring, responsible for both of ICC's first two makes, coming from three-point range. It would remain a close game, with a multiple-score lead hard to come by.
Jeremiah Tate would drive and draw a foul, with a pair of free throws giving ICC its first lead at 15-14 with 12:03 left in the half.
Idris Thomas drawing an and-one put ICC up six (20-14) at the half's midsection. Shamar Grant would find Womer on the fast break for a 22-14 advantage and force a Trailblazer timeout with 9:40 until the break. A Grant off-balance trey in the corner made a new largest lead (9; 25-16). Cody Marcinko gave ICC its first double-figure lead of the day at 27-16 on a baseline drive.
Lewis & Clark would counter with a 6-0 run to get it back to a five-point margin.
Womer's three-point shooting was crucial to the Cougar offensive efforts in the opening 20 minutes, with another trey re-creating the 10-point lead, now at 35-25, the score it would remain at the half.
SECOND HALF RECAP
The margin would stay at around the 10-point mark to start the second half - Lewis & Clark would perhaps go on a mini run or two, but the Cougars would knock down an answer on the other end to quell any hope of a long-term run.
Grant knocking down a three would finally expand the lead to 13 points (50-37) around six minutes in. Another Grant bucket made it a 14-point advantage (54-40) with 12:00 left.
When it seemed like the Trailblazers whittled it back to single digits, Isaiah Payne would hit a corner three to go back up 12, 59-47, with 8:20 left.
Payton Cook would hit a spinning layup and also get fouled on the way up, converting the three-point play for a 66-55 lead. On the next trip down, Payne rattled home another three for a 14-point advantage with just under five minutes on the clock. Thomas and Woods would score successively. Thomas would then find space on the fast break, which usually doesn't end well for the opposition, and a slam dunk gave the Cougars their largest lead of the day at 75-55 with 3:22 left.
Now, Lewis & Clark did out-score ICC the rest of the way, 10-3, but the Cougar offense had done the damage it needed to, coming away with the aforementioned 13-point victory.
COUGAR STATISTICS
Idris Thomas | 14 points, 6 rebounds
Michael Womer | 14 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Shamar Grant | 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Isaiah Payne | 10 points, 2 assists
Cody Marcinko | 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Payton Cook | 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks
Rickey Woods III | 6 points, 3 rebounds
Azarion Richardson | 4 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
Jeremiah Tate | 2 points, 3 rebounds
Cooper Knoll | 1 point
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
2025 Region 24 Tournament Quarterfinal
@ #3 Danville Area Jaguars (15-12)
Wednesday, March 5th - 6:00 PM
at Mary Miller Gym - Danville, IL
Watch Live (BlueFrame Tech; Link TBA)
2025 REGION 24 MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinals (Tuesday, March 4th)
G1 | #8 Lincoln Land (3-23) @ #1 Parkland (27-2) - Time TBA
G2 | #5 Spoon River (9-16) @ #4 John Wood (13-17) - 7:30 PM
G3 | #7 Lewis & Clark (9-20) @ #2 Rend Lake (16-14) - Time TBA
Quarterfinals (Wednesday, March 5th)
G4 | #6 Illinois Central (11-19) @ #3 Danville Area (15-12) - 6:00 PM
Semifinals (Friday, March 7th - @ Spoon River College)
G5 | Winner G1 vs. Winner G2 | Time TBA
G6 | Winner G3 vs. Winner G4 | Time TBA
Championship (Saturday, March 8th - @ Spoon River College)
G7 | Winner G5 vs. Winner G6 | Time TBA
