The Lincoln Land Logger men's basketball team avenged their single loss of the season, travelling to St. Louis to beat the Archers of St. Louis Community College 71-57 on Wednesday evening. 

The Loggers came in to the game with only one loss on the young season. That loss came to the Archers of St. Louis Community College. Wednesday gave Lincoln Land that chance to get some revenge. The Loggers have been able to get off to hot starts and Wednesday was exactly that getting the first 5 points and racing out to a 19-11 lead. At that point, Lincoln Land played their only bad stretch of the night as they went ice cold for nearly 8:00 minutes and surrendered a 13-0 run to St. Louis and now trailed 24-19. Lincoln Land took less than a minute to race back in front and then never looked back. Freshmen Jalen Ashley had 18 points in the first half along to keep the Loggers in front. At the break Lincoln Land went in with a 33-30 advantage. 

In the second half, the game seemed fully in the Loggers control. St. Louis was able to get within two points early in the half at 34-36 and one a separate occasion got back within 3 after trailing by as many as 7, but that was the point Lincoln Land began to stretch their lead out. A quick 8-0 and St. Louis put LLCC up double digits, where the lead remained with the exception of one possession. 

The Loggers did not necessarily dominate the stat sheets actually losing the turnovers and rebounding battles, but the difference was seen at the three-point arc. Lincoln Land went 14/26 for 38% while St. Louis struggled immensely, going just 4 for 29 for 14%. 

Freshmen Jalen Ashely ended as the games leading scorer with 23 points in total including making a game high 4 three pointers, finishing with over 20 points for the second consecutive game. Ashely also pulled in 5 rebounds. Freshmen Jean-Piere Villegas returned to the city where he attended high school and showed out with 17 points of his own and grabbing a game high 6 boards. Sophomore Gus McCrary was a spark all night and did a lot that did not show up in the stats sheets, but he also knocked in two threes and ending with 8 points and tied for the team lead with 6 rebounds while playing defense most of the night against two tough opposing post players. 

Lincoln Land now sits a 3-1 on the season. The Loggers return home for their last home game of the first semester as they will take on Black Hawk-Moline, a team that beat LLCC last December, at 3 PM in Cass Gymnasium. The game also features a toy drive collection by Lincoln Land; more info can be found on the website.