LLCC – 66
Illinois Central College - 80
Lincoln Land fell at home on Saturday afternoon to Mid-West Athletic Conference opponent Illinois Central College 80-66.
Lincoln Land had fallen to the Cougars of ICC in their first game of conference play 78-64 earlier this season.
Although the final deficit was the same, this game played out very differently. Lincoln Land was blown out in the first 10 minutes earlier this year, but tonight 10 minutes in the Loggers found themselves ahead 24-22. However, the Cougars were able to overtake the Loggers and led by as many as 9 in the first half. Lincoln Land was able to get a late bucket and trailed 30-24 at the half. Lincoln Land in the first half shot a lowly 2 for 15 from three for 13%. And were only 4 for 9 from the free throw line. Because of that, Lincoln Land felt in very good shape.
The second half proved to be a half of runs, unfortunately for the Loggers most went in the favor of ICC. Lincoln Land fought back in and got within 2, before ICC was able to push their lead back out to 9. Lincoln Land crawled back within 4 and a few minutes later were back to trailing, this time by 8 with 9:00 to go.
Lincoln Land found themselves in great shape with just under 5:00 left as they were in possession of the ball trailing 56-54. However, a turnover by the Loggers started a run for ICC that put the Loggers away for good. The Cougars were able to close on a 24-12 run on their way to victory. What doomed the Loggers was surprisingly hot shooting from behind the arc from ICC who shot well over their season average and many of those coming in the late run. What gave the Loggers a chance was that ICC missed many free throws down the stretch. On the flip side Lincoln Land shot well under their average going 8/31 for 25.8% including many open looks late.
"We have put ourselves in position to win so many games this year and fallen apart at the end. Tonight we had the ball trailing by a bucket and we turned it over, that has happened way too often these past few games. After that we just were unable to make shots and get stops in the last 5:00. It's frustrating because we played very solid for 35 minutes, just to lose it in the last 5," stated Head Coach Chad Jones following the loss.
Lincoln Land clearly struggled to shoot this evening as the finished shooting 44% from the field, 70% from two (the lone bright spot), 26% from three, and 63% from the line. A bright spot was that Lincoln Land did take care of the ball committing only 9 turnovers and actually out rebounded ICC by 2, 35-33.
Every player from both teams who played in the game tonight with the exception of one scored. Lincoln Land only had two scorers in double digits, freshmen Trace Gentry and D'Aaron Owens scored 17 and 12 respectively. Sophomore Alex Portwood pulled in a game high 8 rebounds.
Lincoln Land fell to 14-10. 1-5 in Mid-West Athletic Conference. Lincoln Land will travel to Quincy to take on John Wood Community College Wednesday evening.
Three former basketball players were inducted into the Lincoln Land hall of fame Christropher Booth who played under Head Coach Chad Jones from 2004-2006, Rick Montooth who played from 1973-1974, and Gene Vincent who played at Lincoln Land from 1969-1971.
