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Cougars find right mix in win over Olney
December 9, 2008
By ADAM DUVALL
Reprinted with permission of the Journal Star
All those elements combined for a 79-67 Illinois Central College men's basketball win over Olney Central on Tuesday night at Lorene Ramsey Gymnasium.
The NJCAA Division II No. 12-ranked Cougars (8-3) jumped out to a 17-3 lead in the first 7:06 as six ICC players scored.
"It's a pattern we've established every road game," OC coach Michael Burris said of getting behind early in the game. "Our kids aren't mature enough to go on the road and be ready to play."
A big reason for the sluggish start for the Knights (9-5) was ICC's in-your-face man-to-man defense.
The Cougars were fronting the post and using weak side help to hold OC to just three field goals in 8:51.
"That's a tough team to guard," ICC coach Tony Wysinger said.
Wysinger's focus on defense was guard Jared Rehmel, who came into the game averaging 22.7 points per game. The Cougars held the 5-foot-9 set-shooter to just seven points on 3-of-14 shooting.
"We got into him, made him have to put the ball on the ground, which is not really what he wants to do," Wysinger said.
Led by the defensive effort of Anthony Jones and Kevin Richardson, the Cougars forced OC to shoot 24 percent (8-for-33) from the field and trail 42-24 at the half.
ICC, on the other hand, had shot 55 percent (16-for-29) and 5-for-12 from the beyond the arc. But it was Marcus Acree that provided the offensive punch ICC needed in the first half. Acree, a 6-foot-3 guard from Springfield, scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the first half.
"He got us going," Wysinger said. "When our freshman is out making shots, that makes it a lot easier for everyone else."
Lenzor Williams scored a game-high 21 points for the Knights, a NJCAA Division I team.
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