#3 John A. Logan Good Enough To Overcome Lincoln Trail
Carterville, IL – Wednesday, the No. 3 ranked Volunteers needed a solid second half to flip the scoreboard to their favor. In doing so, the Vols left Brewer Gym with a difficult, but satisfying win over the Statesmen of Robinson, IL, 75-69.
Trailing 33-31 after twenty minutes, Logan won the second half 44-36 to earn their 16th victory of the season against one loss. Logan sits atop the GRAC with a 6-0 record and is 5-0 against Central District competition. Lincoln Trail falls to 7-7 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
Credit Lincoln Trail for putting together a strong upset bid on foreign hardwood. The game had numerous ties and 21 lead changes. They only trailed 71-69 with 17.3 seconds left after a driving lay-in by J.J. Reed. Following a LT time-out, Sean East was fouled 2 seconds after he received the throw-in.
The Vols, a 75% FT shooting team, 11th in the country, have five players hitting over that mark, four of which are over 80%. East, an 86.1% free tosser, calmly stepped to the line and hit both ends of the one and bonus for a 4 point lead.
An errant inbounds pass by the Statesmen was gathered by Detrick Reeves Jr, playing in only his 6th game of the season, the fourth straight after missing 11 games due to injury. Reeves found East, who was immediately fouled. Sean nailed two more freebies to make the final score.
The Vols were a little subpar at the charity stripe, shooting 70.6% (12-17), and received only nine points off the bench. However, with the importance of ball control in a close game, Logan cherished each possession, committing a season low 3 turnovers to help their cause.
“We’re going to get every team’s best punch,” said Logan head coach Kyle Smithpeters. “A win is a win in college basketball, although I thought we looked a little rusty, he added.”
On the second half surge, Smithpeters had this to say, “”Down the stretch we turned some defense into offense. We had to gut that one out. That’s a tough team. They rebound and they’re gritty.”
The Volunteers had all five starters finish in double digits. Cam Alford carded 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 dimes to guide the winners. Alford and Sean East combined for 23 second half points to complete the comeback.
East scoring the team’s final six points, ended up the Vols leading scorer with 18. Behind Alford’s 17, D.J. Debrick scored 11, while Cobie Barnes and Tae Williams each added ten. Only nine points were provided from the bench.
Logan will get a few days off before venturing to Shawnee CC on Wednesday, January 19th for a 7 PM CST date with the Saints (7-5, 1-3).
Lincoln Trail’s Clint Wickcliffe was the game’s top scorer with 23 points. Sixteen of those coming in the final half helping keep his team in striking distance. J.J. Reed netted 15 and Tobias Thompson had 12. The Statesmen’s next contest is at home on Saturday, Jan. 15, also against Shawnee.
