Quincy, IL - The Illinois Central College Men's Basketball team (11-20) saw their season come to an end on Tuesday night, when they traveled to the John Wood Blazers (14-17) for a Region 24 Tournament Quarterfinal from the Student Activities Center. The Cougars would fight the game to a tie in the first half, but the Blazers would lead the whole way otherwise, ending up with a 77-58 victory.
FIRST HALF RECAP
John Wood got off to a hot start, leading as much as 12-3 at the 14:56 mark. The Cougars would make a push, with a three from Isaiah Payne and layup from Rickey Woods III cutting the margin to six points (14-8).
A layup from RJ Davitz and a trey from Shamar Grant got ICC within a score at 15-13. While the Blazers made a free throw, on the other end, Azarion Richardson found Jaylen Brown for another three, and this one made it a tied game (16-16) with 10:56 until the half.
It would seem to be a game of runs. John Wood went on a miniature one to take a six-point lead, but ICC worked it back to a one-score game again, using free throws from Woods and a steal + layup from Idris Thomas to make it 23-21 Blazers.
The Cougars would even tie it up again, with another Payne three and a three from Thomas, with the latter making it a 27-27 score with 5:44 left. Unfortunately, and with 25:44 of play left, it wasn't known at the time, but this would be the closest that ICC got for the remainder of the game.
The Cougars got a pair of free throws from Thomas to cap their first half scoring, trailing 40-33 going into the locker room.
SECOND HALF RECAP
After missing its first three shots of the half, ICC got a block from Thomas, Payne grabbed the rebound, and Cooper Knoll got a layup to cut the deficit to seven points with 17:40 left.
A steal and bucket from Payne kept it at 10 points (49-39), and the same thing for Shamar Grant (51-41).
It was after the Grant basket that John Wood really turned on the jets. Over the next three minutes of play, the Blazers went on a 8-0 run, giving the hosts confidence as they started to pull away.
Idris Thomas got a layup with 7:27 to go, ICC's first field goal in roughly six minutes of play.
The Cougars looked like they were about to make one final push at it. Cody Marcinko layed one in, and Woods knocked down a pair of free throws after drawing a foul to trim the lead to 13 with 5:20 left (64-51).
Alas, the Blazer lead would only increase, getting up to 21 points with 90 ticks left on the clock. A Cook jumper, Jeremiah Tate free throw, and Grant layup at the buzzer would conclude the scoring for the season.
Despite the loss, honors still came from this game, as Idris Thomas was named to the following: MWAC Second Team All-Conference, MWAC Freshman of the Year, Region 24 All-Region Team.
COUGAR STATISTICS
Idris Thomas | 11 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals
Isaiah Payne | 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
Payton Cook | 10 points, 3 rebounds
Rickey Woods III | 8 points, 2 rebounds
Shamar Grant | 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Jaylen Brown | 3 points
Cooper Knoll | 2 points, 2 rebounds
Cody Marcinko | 2 points, 2 rebounds
RJ Davitz | 2 points
Jeremiah Tate | 1 point, 2 assists
Azarion Richardson | 1 point, 2 assists
Michael Womer | 2 rebounds, 2 assists
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
2025-2026 Season
