SIC rolling into postseason play
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[It's simple mathematics for the Southeastern Illinois College men's basketball team.
To win three games, you must win one.
SIC (19-9) opens postseason play at 3 p.m. today in Ina on the campus of Rend Lake College, where the Falcons will take on Lake Land College. The two schools split the season series, winning on each other's home court.
Lake Land College picked up an 86-76 win at SIC on Jan. 23. The loss was the start of a three-game losing streak for Southeastern as the team stumbled through a stretch of games in which it lost five of seven.
Southeastern Illinois evened the score on Feb. 20, knocking off Lake Land 68-64 as it took to the road for redemption and retaliation. The win was a part of SIC's season-ending six-game winning streak.
"If you're playing well, you hope because you've figured it out," head coach Todd Franklin said. "The six games you've won in arrow won't give us any points for this upcoming game."
Points do not carry over from the regular season to the postseason, but there is nothing that can take away the stretch of success SIC has embarked on since Feb. 10. The Falcons have outscored their opponents 483-379.
Since returning to its tenacious man-to-man defense, Southeastern Illinois has held its opponents to an average of 63.1 points per game. In that same span, SIC averaged 80.5 points per contest.
Franklin said he would not divert from the team's recent successful formula.
"Teams that beat themselves don't play their normal game," he said. "We're just going to play a good game of basketball. There's not going to be any, 'We'll get it tomorrow time.' We've got to go get it now."
The only adjustment the Falcons will need to make will be for the game's unusual time slot. SIC has played exclusively on Wednesday and Saturday nights at approximately 7:30 p.m. since early December. Its earliest game this season was a 3 p.m. affair versus State Fair on Nov. 27. The Falcons won that game 59-55.
However, considering the game will take place during SIC's normal practice slot, the only thing that might be different is the atmosphere.
"Saturday nights we play in front of a good crowd; 3 o'clock on Thursday afternoon on a neutral court is not the same," Franklin explained. "You have to push yourself to get ready."
The winner of Thursday's game between the Southeastern Illinois and Lake Land advances to Friday's semi-final matchup that is scheduled for 6 p.m.