BY JOHN D. HOMAN

Logan Media Services

CARTERVILLE – It played out like a Hollywood script. Former Marion High School star Aaron Adeoye hit the game-winning free throws with two seconds left on the clock to lift John A. Logan College to a heart-stopping 72-71 win over Kaskaskia College Wednesday on “Marion Night” at the college.

A 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, Adeoye took a pass from freshman point guard Connor Wheeler (Du Quoin) and was fouled as he went up for a shot in the lane. One of Adeoye’s contacts was knocked out of his eye on the play. With play stopped, Wheeler scurried over to the bleachers and grabbed some solution from Adeoye’s mother. After a time out, the former Wildcat calmly knocked down both tosses. The ensuing ovation was deafening. A desperation half-court shot by the Blue Devils fell way short of the target and the Volunteers escaped with their most exciting win of the season, even bigger than the road win at Three Rivers, Mo. in November.

This was a game that Kaskaskia seemed to own. But Logan refused to surrender.

Trailing by 12 (68-56) with 6:19 remaining, the hometowners rallied. Wheeler stepped up with a couple of big outside shots. Adeoye worked his magic inside. Sondale Conner had a highlight-reel slam dunk. And James Williams tied the game with 44 seconds to play on a shot from beyond the arc from the left side.

With 11 seconds left, Kaskaskia’s Daquan Boyd was fouled and made one of two free throws for a 71-70 lead. That set the stage for Adeoye’s heroics.

“I just knew I had to make the free throws to win the game,” Adeoye said. “So, I took a deep breath and tried to hit them. Fortunately, they went in.”

Vols head coach Kyle Smithpeters was ecstatic with his team’s 16-3 run to close the game.

“We, the coaching staff, challenged our kids when we got down 12. We knew we had to get some stops and we needed a little luck along the way,too. I’m very happy for the kids. They didn’t fold. This win is a group effort all the way around.”

Adeoye led the Vols with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Wheeler followed with 13 points and dished out five assists. Williams tickled the twine for 12 points. Jay Johnson netted eight. Conner had seven. Herrin native Jamie Jones hit both shots he took and finished with five points and four rebounds. Kaylen Shane tacked on four points as did DeVaughn Johnson. Murphysboro’s Pierre House added two points.

Kaskaskia was paced by R.J. Kwiatkowski’s 24 points. The Centralia grad drained eight 3-pointers. No other Blue Devil reached double figures.

Now 3-1 in league play and 8-4 overall, the Vols travel to Olney Saturday night.