Men’s Basketball Streaking and Picking Up Rivals Along the Way

EAST PEORIA — After winning 13 straight games, Illinois Central College’s men’s basketball team had not lost a game since Nov. 17 to Rend Lake Community College. Some msy have wondered if the Cougars remembered what losing felt like.

Unfortunately they were reminded of that feeling on Jan. 22 by losing 77-71 to Parkland College. There was talk before the game that Parkland had been looking at the matchup against the Cougars as a rivalry game.    “We don’t look at Parkland as a rival, just a good basketball team who outplayed us tonight,” said Wysinger.

Rivalries take place in every single sport, a matchup between two teams who absolutely despise each other not only on the court but off the court as well. You can see it in their eyes when they first see their opponent; the look of a warrior willing to do whatever it takes to defeat his enemy. “We have one rival, that is Lincoln College,” said Wysinger.

The ICC Cougars traveled to face instate rival Lincoln College on Jan. 29 in their first of two meetings. To add even more significance to the game, it also happened to also be Coach Wysinger’s 49th birthday. The Cougars gave Wysinger the best present he could have asked for, an 82-74 victory. That earned them their 19th win of the season, bringing their record to 19-2 and moving them up to sixth in the NJCAA Division II National poll.

The all-time record for wins in a season for the men’s basketball program is 29 games set in 2002-03, with only eight games left in the regular season the Cougars will look to move closer to that record.

“It would be nice to accomplish that but we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves,” said Wysinger. “I know it sounds like a cliché but we have to take it one game at a time.”

On March 1 the Cougars will finish up their regular season on the road against Lincoln Land Community College. The Region Tournament and seeding has yet to be determined.