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Statesmen rally past Kaskaskia, 84-80
2/22/2012
JOSH BROWN
Sports Editor
In a day that was full of runs, Lincoln Trail College's men's basketball team got the last one.
After the LTC women's team couldn't recover from a big run earlier in the day in a loss to Kaskaskia, the Statesmen refused to suffer the same fate.
Lincoln Trail overcame a big second-half deficit and made enough free throws down the stretch to hold off Kaskaskia, 84-80, for a Great Rivers Athletic Conference and Homecoming victory.
"The biggest thing I am happy about is we came out after halftime and they outscored us 15-2, but the guys stayed hitched," LTC head coach Mike Ray said. "Right now, I am proud of these kids for not quitting. It says a lot about the character of these kids."
The game was close throughout the first half, with the biggest lead being six points. In fact, there were 13 lead changes and eight ties in the first 20 minutes.
Both teams held leads in the first few minutes, before a 9-1 LTC run - capped by a steal and dunk from Rob Reed - gave the Statesmen a 12-6 advantage with 15:12 remaining. Kaskaskia answered with a 10-2 run to take a 16-14 lead, only to see LTC score six of the next eight points to grab a 20-18 edge with 10:55 to play. Kaskaskia scored the next six points to regain the lead, 24-20, with 8:18 left, but the Statesmen responded with an 8-0 run of their own to jump in front, 28-24, with 7:11 to go.
A 6-2 spurt by Kaskaskia evened the score, 30-30, with 5:06 on the clock, before a three-pointer by Delvon Brown put LTC back on top, 33-30, with 4:39 to go. Kaskaskia followed with a 9-2 run to take a 39-35 lead with 3:01 remaining. A basket by Jake Frazier and two free throws by Reed evened the score at 39-39 with 1:14 to go, but Kaskaskia scored three of the last five points of the half to take a 42-41 lead at halftime.
The wheels seemed to be falling off for the Statesmen to start the second half, as Kaskaskia's 15-2 run gave the Blue Devils a 57-43 advantage with 13:35 remaining. The deficit actually increased to 15 on a couple of occasions before the Statesmen began to make their run.
A 12-1 burst by the Statesmen closed the gap to 65-61 with 7:08 remaining. After three free throws following a foul and technical on LTC's Jake Frazier pushed the Kaskaskia lead to 68-61, Lincoln Trail scored nine of the next 11 points to tie the game, 70-70, with 4:06 left.
After three free throws by Quan Conner gave Kaskaskia a 73-70 lead with 2:56 to go, Lincoln Trail ripped off the next eight points. A layup by Jason Jordan closed the gap to one, then Kaskaskia's Chris Hooper was called for a foul while trying to go for a rebound and then a technical for disputing the call. Jordan hit both technical free throws to put the Statesmen up one, 74-73, with 2:11 remaining. Mike Anderson would add a free throw, then Brown would grab the rebound after Anderson missed the second. About a minute later, Anderson would put back a miss by Reed and get fouled, then complete the three-point play to give the Statesmen a 78-73 lead with 55.8 seconds left.
Cedric Smith would make one free throw, then Jacob Kampwerth put back a miss on the second free throw, trimming the LTC lead to 78-76 with 40.8 seconds to play. Reed would add a free throw with 38.7 seconds left, then after a Kaskaskia miss, Jordan added two foul shots for an 81-76 lead with 16.9 seconds left. Two quick Kaskaskia baskets sandwiched around another free throw by Jordan made the score 82-80 with 2.2 seconds remaining. Jordan was then fouled with 1.2 seconds left and sank both free throws to seal the win.
"There are three things it takes to be a successful team.," Ray said. "If you make free throws, don't turn the ball over and rebound, you are going to be in a lot of games and win most of them."
The Statesmen did two of those three things well. They committed just four turnovers in the game, while Kaskaskia had 14 miscues. The Statesmen also converted 27-33 free throw attempts (82 percent), while Kaskaskia made just 23-45 foul shots (51 percent). Those two areas allowed Lincoln Trail to overcome a 62-46 rebounding deficit.
"Mental toughness is a main ingredient in a winning team and that's something we've been lacking," Ray said. "But, we dug down and found it tonight and I hope it carries over."
Lincoln Trail had balanced scoring across the board, with nine of 10 players who played reaching the scoring column, including four in double figures.
Reed paced LTC with 15 points, four rebounds, three steals, three assists and two blocked shots, while Teddy Maris totaled 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and one steal. Brown netted 13 points and nine rebounds, Jordan posted 13 points, three rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot, Anderson contributed nine points, six rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot, Frazier chipped in with eight points, five rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot, Ilyas Salsanov added five points, two rebounds and one assist, Angelo Williams had four points, five rebounds and one assist and Isaac Wodajo had three points and four rebounds.
"Everybody that played tonight contributed," Ray said. "I was real happy with our point distribution. We had four guys in double figures, plus one with nine and one with eight."
Leading Kaskaskia was Brady Burford with 20 points, eight rebounds and one steal, while Conner posted 12 points, four rebounds and three assists and Hooper totaled 10 points, 14 rebounds, three blocked shots and one assist.
Prior to the game, A Sophomore Recognition Night was held for Drew Morecraft. Morecraft, a basketball and baseball player at LTC, will miss the rest of the basketball season following elbow surgery and will be traveling with the baseball during the official Sophomore Night at the end of the season.
"I was happy we got a win for Drew, too," Ray said. "He has been a big part of the team. I want to congratulate him on two good years and I wish him well in the future."
Lincoln Trail (7-16, 2-10 GRAC) will play host to Wabash Valley College Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
At Lincoln Trail College, Robinson
Kaskaskia College 42 38 - 80
Lincoln Trail College 41 43 - 84
KASKASKIA (80)
Cedric Smith 1-2 0-1 3-6 5, Quan Conner 3-5 1-7 3-4 12, Desmond Brown 0-2 0-1 1-2 1, DeMarius Dabney 1-2 0-0 0-0 2, Brady Burford 8-19 0-1 4-10 20, Kendall Coleman 2-6 0-2 4-8 8, Jacob Kampwerth 3-7 0-1 3-5 9, Adrian Spellman 3-3 0-0 0-0 6, Chris Hooper 3-5 0-0 4-7 10, Ronald Farmer-Blanchard 3-5 0-0 1-3 7, TOTALS 27-56 2FG, 1-13 3FG, 23-45 FT, 80 TP.
LINCOLN TRAIL (84)
Mike Anderson 3-3 0-1 3-4 9, Ilyas Salsanov 0-3 0-1 5-6 5, Rob Reed 5-17 0-3 5-6 15, Teddy Maris 4-8 1-2 3-3 14, Angelo Williams 1-2 0-0 2-2 4, Delvon Brown 4-8 1-2 2-4 13, Jason Jordan 3-11 0-2 7-8 13, Isaac Wodajo 0-2 1-2 0-0 3, Errol Townsend 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Frazier 4-7 0-0 0-0 8, TOTALS 24-62 2FG, 3-13 3FG, 27-33 FT, 84 TP.
Turnovers - KC 14, LTC 4. Team fouls - KC 25, LTC 25. Fouled out - Hooper, Conner, Frazier. Technical foul - Frazier, Hooper. Rebounds - (KC 62) Hooper 14, Coleman 10, Smith 9, Burford 8, Kampwerth 8, Farmer-Blanchard 7. (LTC 46) Brown 9, Maris 7, Anderson 6, Frazier 5, Williams 5, Reed 4, Wodajo 4, Jordan 3, Salsanov 2, Townsend. Steals - (KC 1) Burford. (LTC 6) Reed 3, Maris, Jordan, Frazier. Assists - (KC 8) Coleman 4, Conner 3, Hooper. (LTC 10) Maris 4, Reed 3, Anderson, Salsanov, Williams. Blocked shots - (KC 5) Hooper 3, Spellman, Smith. (LTC 7) Reed 2, Townsend 2, Anderson, Jordan, Frazier.
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