LLCC - 88
Richard J Daley - 77

The Lincoln Land Community College men's basketball team began their season in Chicago Friday evening with an 88-77 victory over Richard J Daley College. 
 

The Loggers are a part of the Harry S. Truman College Tip-Off Shoot Out this weekend and came out victorious in their first game. In the opening minutes the Loggers and the Bulldogs of Daley College traded leads. The Loggers struggled with turnovers early, committing a total of 27 in the game, and giving up offensive rebounds, as they gave up 8 in the first half. Luckily for the Loggers two players came out got. Sophomore Alex Portwood started out on fire and had 16 points, 11 minutes into the game. Freshman Jerrid Cosby started his college career in style by adding 12 points before half. Cosby ended the game without missing a shot, going 4/4 from the field, 2/2 from three, and 4/4 from the free throw line. Eventually the Loggers were able to settle in and build up a bit of a lead at half up 52-39. 

In the second half Lincoln Land was able to build on their lead early and began pulling away and with around 10:00 left in the game the Loggers were holding a 23 point edge, 75-52. However, once Lincoln Land built that lead they may have gotten two comfortable and with just under 4:00 left the Loggers saw that lead trimmed to 7. Lincoln Land was able to figure enough of their errors out and with the help of great free throw shooting down the stretch, the Loggers were able to make it to the final buzzer ahead. 

"It feels great to finally get out and play. The start of the season drags on when you are practicing against each other every day, so it's nice to play someone else. With that being side, it's game 1, but we have a lot we need to get better at and need to in a hurry. We did a lot of good things tonight, but had our fair share of bad ones too," commented Chad Jones following the win. 

Lincoln Land held an advantage in a few important categories shooting 53% from three (9/17) and converting on 25 free throws while also pulling down 15 offensive rebounds. The Loggers were led by Portwood who had a game high 19 points. Sophomore Harold Robertson added in 16. Portwood and Robertson also each pulled down a team high 7 rebounds and each had 3 assists. Freshman Jerrid Cosby added 14 and sophomore Nolan Luke also got to double digits with 12.  Four other Loggers scored as well. 

Lincoln Land is 1-0 on the season and will face host Harry Truman College tomorrow afternoon at 3.