INA- Rend Lake College Men’s Basketball was in action Monday night as Danville Area Community College ventured to Ina for a

showdown in the James “Hummer” Waugh Gymnasium. RLC’s Warriors were able to turn on the jets in the second half, burying the Jaguars by a final of 78-61.

RLC Associate Coach Tommy Holder, center, talks to Carterville’s Austin Swalls, left, and Timothy Dunn, right, during a time out. Dunn led scoring for Rend Lake against Danville Area Community College Monday night. (Reece Rutland-RLC Sports Information Director)

Tim Dunn (Lexington, KY) led Rend Lake scoring with 18 points. Kenny Berry (Granite City) contributed seven to the cause. Anton Ivy (Peoria) netted 15. Kel’shawn Kight-Goff (Louisville, KY) added five points. Corey Thomas (Louisville, KY) put 14 on the scoreboard. Chris McCraw (Louisville, KY) also scored 14, and Will Presson (Belleville) rounded out scoring with a pair.

The Warriors are on the road Wednesday night as they travel to Robinson, IL to take on Lincoln Trail College in a Great Rivers Athletic Conference (GRAC) showdown. That game is slated for a 7:30 p.m. start. Rend Lake College moves to 9-4 on the season and 3-2 in the GRAC. RLC returns home Saturday to host Southwester Illinois College at 3 p.m.

Salukis getting ready to take the field against ISU last fall. (Southern Illinoisan file photo)

CARBONDALE — Brandon George, a 6-foot-2 quarterback at Jones (Oklahoma) High School that won that state’s Gatorade Player of the Year Award, verbally committed to the SIU football team Sunday. George will be a true freshman for the Salukis this fall if he signs a national letter of intent, which he can do in February as part of National Signing Day. The senior right-hander threw for 4,035 yards and 44 touchdowns last season, leading the Class 3A Longhorns to the state championship, according to The Oklahoman newspaper. George also rushed for 1,305 yards and 21 touchdowns. He is ranked a three-star prospect by 247sports.com and Scout.com. Pause Current Time 0:00 / Duration Time 0:00 Loaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00 Fullscreen 00:00 Mute “Thank you to the people that supported and cheered me on through thick and thin, and last but not least, thank you to the people that doubted me,” George said on a Twitter post on Sunday. “I’m not the biggest or fastest kid, but I have been fortunate enough to receive an offer from a school with a great coaching staff that will mold me into a better football player/QB and an even better young man.” Please click on the link to read the article from Todd Hefferman of the Southern Illnoisan….

SIU Media Services

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Southern Illinois played its best game of the season, led virtually wire-to-wire, and pulled off a surprising upset of Missouri State on Saturday, 75-67, handing MSU just its second home loss of the season.

The Salukis (10-7, 3-1) did it with stellar defense, a monster game from point guard Mike Rodriguez, and clutch 3-pointers that stemmed the tide every time the Bears (11-6, 2-2) tried to rally. They also buried 20-of-24 free throws, while MSU struggled to find the range from both outside the arc (5-of-19) and from the charity stripe (10-of-18).

Rodriguez led SIU with 20 points and was 7-of-8 from the field. He entered the game having converted just 8-of-39 from 3-point on the season, but he buried all three of his attempts from downtown. On top of that, he’s been battling a hip-pointer injury.

“I think he’s a stubborn little mule, good and bad,” said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. “He’s not going to not play. He’s in a lot of pain. He only turned it over one time. He played 35 minutes and he only misses one shot. That’s a heckuva stat line. When you play on the road, somebody has to step up.”

The Salukis played their best defensive half of season in grabbing a 33-25 lead at halftime. They packed the paint, mixed in some zone, and held the Bears to 3-of-13 shooting from 3-point range in the half.

“We went a zone stretch where I think they were 1-for-9,” Hinson said. “We don’t play a lot of zone. There were certain lineups that when they came into the game, we knew we were going to target.”

Sean O’Brien takes it to the hoop around two Missouri State Defenders (SIU Media Services)

Southern extended its lead to 11 early in the second half, 42-31, on a 3-pointer by Leo Vincent and a jumper by Thik Bol. The Bears then used a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 42-41 with 11:14 remaining, bringing the crowd of 5,892 to life for the first time. To complicate matters for Southern, forward Sean O’Brien was in foul trouble. He had been a mainstay in SIU’s offensive attack the last two games. 

Rodriguez stopped the bleeding with one of the biggest shots of the game — a deep trey to make it 45-41. Sean Lloyd hit another one with 7:29 to go to put Southern up 53-48, but on the next possession, O’Brien fouled out with 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists. 

“I don’t think I can elaborate on how I was feeling at that time — I don’t want to be that graphic,” said Hinson, about losing his senior forward. “Only the emergency room would understand.”

Jonathan Wiley took over for O’Brien and was one of the heroes off the bench. He had four points, seven rebounds and three steals before fouling out himself. He did a a nice job defensively in helping hold MSU’s top scorer — Alize Johnson — to 11 points. 

Up 55-51 with six minutes remaining, the Salukis needed to shorten the game, and they did, running long possessions. As a bonus, they knocked down shots deep in the clock.  Bol hit an 18 footer, Lloyd had a pull-up jumper, and seldom-used backup center Rudy Stradnieks hit the biggest shot of his career — a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:20 to go that gave SIU some breathing room, 64-56.

“They hit some daggers late in the shot clock,” said Missouri State head coach Paul Lusk. “When you’re playing well and you’re the aggressor, you get all the spoils.”

Both teams played short-handed without one of their top guards. Armon Fletcher missed his third-straight game for SIU with a foot injury, while MSU point guard Ronnie Rousseau missed his second-straight with an ankle injury. Guard Dequon Miller also did not start for the Bears because he was late for shoot-around, Lusk said.

With the victory, the Salukis snapped a four-game road losing streak. They beat Missouri State for the fourth-straight time.

“They came to fight and we came to play,” Lusk said. “Disappointed with our guys that we didn’t have that sense of urgency. You hope that doesn’t happen during the season, but it happened.”

LINK TO THE BOX SCORE:

http://siusalukis.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=7634

O’ Brien takes it to the bucket for two of his career high 28 points in last’s nights win over Indiana State. (Byron Heltzer, Southern Illinoisan photo.)

CARBONDALE — Sean O’Brien did as much talking on the court as off it Wednesday night against Indiana State. SIU’s only fourth-year starter on the floor at SIU Arena scored a career-high 28 points, 18 in the second half and overtime, to help the Salukis hold off Indiana State 80-74 at SIU Arena. O’Brien made 11 of 21 from the field, including his first 3-pointer since Dec. 7 last year at Louisville, and grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds in 41 minutes……”He was in sync, and what you guys may not be able to see all the time, in every huddle, he’s telling guys what to do and where to go,” SIU coach Barry Hinson said. “He’s starting to become a leader. He’s starting to figure out now I’m gonna be a leader for this team, so, I’m proud of him.”…….”The coaches just did a good job of drawing up plays for me to get the ball down low, and my teammates like Mike (Rodriguez) were doing good giving me the ball, and just playing off me,” O’Brien said. “It wasn’t the plan going into the game, but as I made some shots, they did a good job finding me.”……click to read the rest of the story and other features about SIU’s win last night from Todd Hefferman, Saluki beat writer of the Soutehrn Illinoisan.

Morthland College Media Services

West Frankfort – After a blistering start by the visiting Pioneers of Crowley’s Ridge, the Patriots’ second half comeback stalled as Morthland fell 90-84 in their first game of the new year.

The first half saw plenty of offense, but it was the Pioneers’ hot shooting that was the story in the first twenty minutes. CRC shot 50 percent from the field, but an even better 54 percent from beyond the arc, resulting in a 16-point halftime deficit for the hosts.

Dylan Burmester did his best to help the Patriots keep pace, with four first half three pointers, but timely scoring from CRC stretched the lead to as large as 17.

Morthland PG Cody Schultz drives in for a layup over a Crowley’s Ridge Defender…

Foul trouble also took its toll, and the seven-man rotation at the disposal of Coach Rich Herrin was put to the test early, as Tyler Burmester and Ashton Worgu picked up four and three fouls, respectively. Ben McFarland saw extended minutes as a result and played inspired basketball, hitting an early three and collecting numerous important rebounds.

Trailing 57-41 at the beginning of the second half, the Patriots began to mount a comeback and, just over five minutes in, clawed the lead down to two, thanks in part to six points from Aaron Rushing, who spent much of the night  being hounded inside by multiple bodies.

Unfortunately, every Patriot run was met with a Pioneer response, and the hosts were never able to draw level. The early first half foul trouble eventually caught up with Morthland, as Rushing, Worgu, and Tyler Burmester all fouled out of the game, prompting one last effort.

After pulling within three on a Demaria Nance jumper with under 45 seconds to play, CRC was able to withstand the Patriot pressure and close out the game.

Dylan Burmester led the way for the Patriots, finishing with 32 points on eight three pointers. Tyler Burmester finished with 15, Rushing had 14, and McFarland collected nine points and nine boards.

CRC finished with four players in double figures, paced by Cade Niswonger with 21.

Morthland (7-6) will be back in action on Wednesday, January 11, as they take on Logan University on the campus of Rend Lake College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30.

Link to Box Score: http://www.morthlandpatriots.com/stats/2016-17/box_13.html