Men’s Basketball falls to Parkland
12:00 am – February 28th, 2019 – Alex Staab
Champaign, IL – The odds were against the ICC Cougars (16-8), as they traveled to Dodds Athletic Complex to take on the 8th-ranked Parkland Cobras (22-3). Odds are just numbers at this point of the season however, as they rarely translate onto the court.
It was the Cougars feeling good early, taking an early 5-0 lead on a layup from Damond Crosby with 16:49 left in the first half. The good start was extended just minutes later when Martrellian Gibson hit a three to take an 8-2 lead.
Bracing for a potential push by the host Cobras, Gibson added a layup, with Tyler Bruggenwirth and DJ Davis getting in on the scoring action to nearly double up #8 Parkland, 14-8.
Back did come the Cobras, with a jumper from Bruno Williams Jr. making it 18-16 ICC. After that, the two sides seemed to go back and forth, with neither side taking a multiple-possession lead until Joe Turner hit a pair of free throws for the Cougars to take a 24-19 lead with 6:09 until halftime.
The Cobras would tie it not that much later, when Tommy Makabu hit a trey to draw the score at 24-24. ICC didn’t let the tie last much longer, when Davis got a layup to go just 21 seconds later.
#8 Parkland maintained a small amount of momentum for a brief while before opening it up to a 35-30 lead after a pair of free ones from Ty’ohn Trimble. A jumper from the Cobras’ Ty Walter Jr. would send the hosts to the halftime locker room with a 37-30 lead.
In the women’s game, it was mentioned how key the first few minutes of the second half can be. Unfortunately, that did not work the Cougars’ way. #8 Parkland would sit on the threshold of a double figure lead multiple times before finally cracking that mark with a Trimble layup to make it 44-34.
The Cobras kept rolling from there, going on a 9-2 run after the layup, capped by a layup from Tommy Makabu to make it 53-36 with 12:23 to go.
As shown by the time left, a 17-point lead can disappear quickly. The lead itself didn’t go away, but the Cougars did their best to close the gap, getting it down to 55-44 on a Tyler Bruggenwirth layup. Then it was Joe Turner making it an 11-point spread once again. That would be the closest the Cougars got.
Yet another score from Trimble, this time a three, made it 70-55 with all of 76 seconds remaining.
Two free throws from Patrick McKenzie with nine seconds to go would wrap up the scoring for the night, with the #8 Cobras taking a home win to win the Midwestern Athletic Conference, beating the ICC Cougars, 70-59.
ICC hosts Lincoln Land (5-22) on Saturday at 3:00 pm.
ICC Scoring: Tyler Bruggenwirth (13), Martrellian Gibson (11), Ian Milsteadt (8), Damond Crosby (7), DJ Davis (6), Joe Turner (6), Katon Brown (5), Patrick McKenzie (3)
ICC Team Stats: Field Goals (22 for 60 – 36.7%), 3’s (1 for 19 – 5.3%), Free Throws (14 for 21 – 66.7%), 38 rebounds, 18 fouls, 8 assists, 14 turnovers, 1 block, 8 steals
Saturday Game Info: Video Stream (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkEdyPZadTA) || In-Game Updates (twitter.com/ICCSportsLive) & (twitter.com/StaabAlex)