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Tuesday, Dec. 10

High school basketball

[DEC. 10, 2002] 

Girls

Illini Central def. Pawnee 59-49

Midwest Central def. Mount Pulaski 52-42

Lincoln's Cook named Big 10 Player of the Week

[DEC. 10, 2002]  The LDN has just learned that Brian Cook has been chosen Big 10 Player of the Week. Cook led the Illini to victories over No. 12 North Carolina (82-65) and over Arkansas (62-58). He averaged over 20 points, 5.5 rebounds and dished off 4.5 assists. According to Illinois coach Bill Self, Brian did the job against the best competition the Illini has faced. 

Indiana's Tom Coverdale was also named a weekly winner.

Cook was previously selected as a weekly Big Ten winner in December of 2000, during his sophomore season.

[Jeff Mayfield]

Men's basketball pre-game notes

Illinois vs. Eastern Illinois

[DEC. 10, 2002]   The Fighting Illini, including Brian Cook of Lincoln, play Eastern Illinois tonight (Tuesday) at 7 in the Assembly Hall at Champaign. The game is to be televised by ESPN.

Click here for pre-game notes (in Adobe Acrobat).

[Click here if you need to download the Adobe Acrobat reader.]

[Kent Brown, assistant athletics director
and sports information director,
University of Illinois]

Redbirds fall to 0-5 with 76-61 loss to Kent State

[DEC. 10, 2002]  KENT, Ohio -- Despite a double-double by Trey Guidry, who led the Illinois State men's basketball team with 15 points and a career-high 11 assists, the Redbirds fell 76-61 to Kent State in non-conference action Saturday afternoon at the MAC Center.

Senior Baboucarr Bojang pitched in a total of 14 points and had a team-high six rebounds, including a layup with 11:31 left to play in the second half, to put the 'Birds up 53-52 over the Golden Flashes. That would be the last lead of the game for the Redbirds.

Gregg Alexander, who contributed 13 points for the 'Birds, sank two free throws to tie the game at 55-55 with 10:47 left to play. However, Kent State hushed the Redbirds by going on an 11-0 run.

The Flashes' run was led by a DeAndre Haynes 3-pointer. Then Kent State's center, Nate Gerwig, chipped in three free throws, while Haynes added another two points off a layup. Matt Jakeway finished off the Kent State run with a 3-pointer.

[to top of second column in this article]

The bleeding was stopped by a Redbird jumper made by Guidry, but the damage had already been done. The 'Birds were 0-for-5 from the field during Kent State's run, which ultimately made the difference in a game where Illinois State had trailed by one, 36-35, at the half.

Illinois State falls to 0-5, while Kent State improves its record to 4-0.

The Redbirds will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 15, when they travel to Western Kentucky to take on the Hilltoppers. (See pre-game notes.)  [Click here to download Adobe Acrobat reader for the PDF file.]

[Jill B. Rachford, graduate assistant,
Illinois State University]

Articles from the past week

By Jeff Mayfield

[DEC. 9, 2002]  As I've said on more than one occasion, this is a fun time of the year. Almost every sport is in action and making a move. Even the ones that aren't are doing something at their winter meetings. Let's examine a few with local implications:

We saw how the young Illini responded to the bright lights of Assembly Hall. But many wondered how the "kiddie korps" would do outside of the friendly confines of Cham-bana. How 'bout a "W" on the wild and wacky road of Arkansas? Illinois prevailed in a squeaker, 62-58, and yes, they didn't finish it or seal it the way we'd all like to see it. However, I've preached through the years this one important point: You get NO extra brownies for ANY style points. Translation: Even the ugliest of wins is better than a pretty loss! Period!

Brian Cook led the way with 18 points and could have had a lot more. He also had four rebounds, four assists and two steals to offset five turnovers.

Illinois was mauled on the boards 36-21 by Arkansas, including a 15-4 shelling on the offensive glass. The Illinois were able to recover some of those lost possessions by forcing the Hogs into 22 turnovers while committing only 15 themselves.

James Augustine had a huge game for the Illini with 10 points and six rebounds. The Illini got to the FT line only nine times but converted seven of them. That, coupled with 50 percent shooting from the field on the day, all contributed to a big Illini road victory. The statement was that the "W" is more important than any other stat!

Folks wondered what complexion this year's Sacred Heart-Griffin team would bear with a new coach with Quincy roots. And said coach didn't act like he was too worried about our vaunted one-two-two ball press and host of prolific perimeter shooters. By his own admission he may have underestimated us just a bit. According to him, it was 10 times better than he thought it would be, as the final outcome attested to a Railer 65-46 win. In fact, a case could be made that this game was over at halftime, with the Railers exploding to a 30-13 lead at the intermission.

Brock Werner continued his outstanding play by firing in 23 points, mostly bombs from way downtown. It's nice to see him have success after he suffered a knee injury that limited him so much last season. He also has shot hundreds of shots in his driveway over the years, and it's nice to see him hit them in prime time for the Railers.

Erik Young continues to be a force in the middle, as he went for 12 and six, and Cory Farmer added 10.

This is a pretty balanced Railer contingent. If they can continue to work hard and not be satisfied by what they've accomplished, it could be very interesting how good this team could be.

Next up for Lincoln will be a true test is they travel to take on the highly ranked and regarded Spartans of Springfield Southeast in a rare Tuesday night affair.

[to top of second column in this article]

LCC showing its muscle

Lincoln Christian College traveled north to participate in the annual Midwest Regional Tipoff. And LCC came away with two wins, while one team wouldn't even show up to play them. Lincoln clipped Moody 65-58 and then drubbed Emmaus 85-42. That takes the record to 6-5 and precedes a tough matchup at MacMurray Tuesday night before a very difficult tourney at Taylor University this weekend.

However, this team has played a brutal schedule and has acquitted themselves well. After the first of the year they will be playing teams on their level, and it could really be "Katie, bar the door!!!"

New coach Jim Jumper told a "FANdamonium" audience a week ago that his kids were ready for all challenges. He was right again! Just look at how his Hilltoppers handled the defending Class A state champions from Pleasant Plains this past weekend, 52-39. How's that for a home opener? The Toppers received nine points from Craig Erlenbush; Brian Clements had 12 points and seven rebounds; and Justin Anderson had 18 points and five rebounds. Friday's game helped take some of the sting off Tuesday's loss at Niantic.

This is a darn good Mount Pulaski team that figures to make a lot of noise in our area this year.

That's right. YOUR Chicago Bears could REALLY help out my Oakland Raiders with a huge win on Monday night! So, I will once again be rooting like crazy for the Bears tonight with no ill will towards coach Wannstedt or the fish. IF you're looking for a GREAT Christmas gift, how 'bout some Bears tickets? Call Tom at 737-7344 for availability.

Get your dialing fingers ready. TONIGHT, we want to hear from you. Call us at 735-3306 with your question or comment. IF by ANY chance you read this column, could you please e-mail me this afternoon at jmayfiel@lccs.edu. I want to get a feel for talk on the Illini, the NFL, the Railers and Toppers, and others… or just "E" to say you read it, and at least it gives you something to laugh at!

See you at 6 tonight on the Lincoln Daily News LIVE link, FIX-FM 96.3 radio or on CITV-5 Lincoln.

Have a great week, everybody!

[Jeff Mayfield]

• "Quick Monday morning mutterings," posted Dec. 2
• "Semple shines but Bears win in OT," posted Nov. 25
• "Illini make it a Champaign double," posted Nov. 25
• More columns...

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