Falcons thump Lake Land to open postseason
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The ball continues to bounce in Southeastern Illinois College's favor as the Falcons bounced Lake Land College to open the postseason.
Isaac McClure led the way with 18 points as four SIC players scored in double figures in the team's 73-50 victory in its opening round match-up of the Region 24 Tournament at Rend Lake College. Fellow sophomore Troy Long poured in 17 points, freshman Charles Ashford added 11 points and sophomore forward Mamadou Seck chipped in with 10 points as SIC coasted to victory.
Head coach Todd Franklin said he wanted to thank the Falcons faithful that made the trek to Ina and helped create a big-game atmosphere for an inspired SIC attack.
"We had the best crowd hear and it wasn't even close. We had the most people and the most enthusiastic people," Franklin said.
Southeastern Illinois improved its record to 20-9 on the season, marking the team's 12th season in which it has picked up at least 20 wins.
The Falcons have endeared a few bumps on their road to yet another 20-win campaign. Franklin's bunch was 13-9 after an 82-64 loss to Wabash Valley on Feb. 6. Since the loss, SIC has seen a revival that has come with a seven-game winning streak that began with a 90-48 home win against Kaskaskia.
A theme in each of the victories has been the team's committed effort on the defensive end. SIC abandoned the zone defense it had used earlier in the season as it attempted to patch some of its holes created by early-season departures and returned to its ferocious man-to-man defense.
The stifling defense was on display again on Thursday afternoon as Lake Land scored only 24 first-half points and faced a 40-24 deficit at halftime.
Franklin credited each of his players for the defensive gem on the hardwood.
"Our guys did a man's job against their two big boys and defensively is where we won this ball game," Franklin said.
The "big boys" Franklin referenced, 7-footer Moussa Gueye and 6-foot-7-inch Paris Carter, combined to score only 21 points Thursday. Freshman William Kirksey, listed at 6-foot-8, is Southeastern's tallest player. His frontcourt mates, Seck and McClure, are 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-6, respectively. In the end, size didn't matter as Southeastern made up for is length up front by executing on both ends of the ball.
The win advances the Falcons to the semi-final round and will play top seed John A. Logan College at 6 p.m. on Friday. Franklin said SIC would need another valiant effort to knock off the Volunteers, and hopes to have the reinforcements again.
"Call up the arms because we're going to need all the help we can get," Franklin said, encouraging Falcons fans to make a return trip to Rend Lake College. "It's going to be a good night of basketball."