The Lincoln Land Loggers kicked off their Midwest Athletic Conference play on the road in East Peoria against the #4 nationally ranked Illinois Central College Cougars. The Loggers came out with high energy and great shooting and raced out to an early lead. The Loggers played great defense and a steal and lay-up by Michael Cameron as the first half buzzer expired put the Loggers up 37-25.

The second half continues much the same way and the Loggers pushed the lead out to 23 after a Marcus Graham three. The Cougars called timeout and that was when the game turned. Slowly the Cougars forced turnovers and Illinois Central charged all the way back into the game. The last 6:00 of the game were played within a 7 point window with the Loggers unable to pull away.

Illinois Central started hitting threes down the stretch and cut the Logger lead to 1. Freshman Payton Dugan made two huge free throws to put the Loggers up 3 with :25 left. The Cougars pushed down the floor and after securing an offensive rebound were able to nail a game thing three. The subsequent inbounds the Loggers had a player fall and Illinois Central grabbed the ball and made a runner in the lane with :09 left to take their first lead of the game. The last seconds the Cougars made three free throws to put the game away.

Coach Chad Jones had mixed feelings over loss in East Peoria, "This is a very tough loss. We made a lot of foolish turnovers down the stretch…All that considered, we played the #4 team in the country very tough at their place and that proves the progression we are making."

The Loggers were led in scoring by Sophomore Marcus Graham, who battled cramps the entire second half, who put in a game high 24. Sophomores Reed Willenborg and Garrett Williams added 13 and 15, respectively.

The Loggers fall to 9-9 and 0-1 in the conference and get a chance to get back on the court Wednesday at home in Springfield against conference for Danville Area Community College.