Lincoln Land - 66
Rend Lake - 64
Lincoln Land held defensively on the last possession of the game to take a victory over Rend Lake, 66-64.
Lincoln Land began Region 24 seeding games as the Warriors from Rend Lake College traveled to Springfield. Both teams came in to the game top 15 in total defense and the first half was a defensive battle. Neither team created a decisive advantage during that first frame as there were 3 ties and 8 lead changes while neither team got up by more than two possessions. Neither team broke 20 until under 5:00 to play before the half. A flurry of scores at the end adding up on the score board and Rend Lake went in with a 3 point advance at 30-27.
The Logger offense became the strength for the second half. The Loggers shot an amazing 62% from the field after the break. After halftime Camren Kincaid, LLCC's leading scorer coming into tonight, became the efficient scorer that he has been all year. Kincaid scored 17 points in the half, while going 7/11 from the field after the break. That 17 points alone would have been enough to make Kincaid the leading scorer on the night.
Lincoln Land took a lead with 15:00 to go and never allowed the Warriors to tie or take the lead. However, the Loggers also failed to pull away with a decisive edge. Lincoln Land led by 8 with under 4:00 to play and looked to be headed towards victory, but Rend Lake kept getting enough buckets and stops to keep it tight. The Loggers again looked like they had the contest in hand as they were fouled with :30 to go up 5. However, LLCC split the pair to hold on to a 6 point lead. The Warriors got a score with :17 left, immediately got a jump ball to turn it back over to Rend Lake, and then hit a three to make it a 1 point game all in the matter of :08 of game time. LLCC again was fouled on the subsequent in bounds and again split from the line to be up only 2 with under :10 to go. On defense, with time clicking away, David Laby and Jermontre Young both helped slow up the Warrior driver and forced a long contested three at the buzzer that went wide to allow the Loggers to celebrate the 66-64 win.
Kincaid ended with 23 while also continuing to add stats through the sheet with a game high 6 assists and a tie for team high in rebounds with 5. Dane Foster was a scoring spark in the first half and ended in double digits with 11 and also securing 5 boards. Nick Cook continues to be an inside force as he just missed double digits with 9, including a late score and a free throw to help keep Lincoln Land ahead.
The Loggers get to over .500 for the first time this season as they win their third in a row to improve to 5-4 on the season, and begin Region play 1-0. Lincoln Land has the rest of the week off for finals and then ends the first semester at home on Tuesday, December 19 against a very tough Bryant and Stratton team out of Wisconsin.
