Close contests continue to be the norm for Lincoln Trail College’s men’s basketball team since they have returned from the holiday break, but the difference this week was the Statesmen came out on the positive end of things.

After dropping their first two games of 2022, the Statesmen pulled out a pair of victories in a three-day span, albeit by the narrowest of margins.

The Statesmen started their week by edging past Rend Lake, 62-61, in a Great Rivers Athletic Conference and Region 24 contest Monday night.

“This was a much-needed win for us,” LTC head coach Junsie Cotten said. “We’ve been battling a lot of internal things and I think we grew up tonight. It wasn’t perfect, but for tonight, I’m a proud basketball coach.”

It was a game of runs early, as LTC jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead in the first five minutes, but Rend Lake answered back with 13 straight points to take an 18-12 lead with 10:04 left in the first half. The Statesmen came right back, as Wendell DeMyers drained a pair of three-pointers around a basket by Greg Jenkins to put the Statesmen back on top, 20-18, with 8:07 to play. Rend Lake came back with eight in a row to take a 26-20 lead and the margin eventually grew to 32-25 before a 5-1 spurt by LTC to end the half made the score 33-30 at halftime.

Lincoln Trail would continue to claw their way back, eventually tying the game at 37-37 on a Tobias Thompson layup at the 16:58 mark. Rend Lake responded with six straight points to retake the lead and they would eventually push the margin to 52-44 with 9:34 remaining before the Statesmen would begin to chip away.

A steal and layup by Jenkins, a three-pointer from J.J. Reed and a pull-up jumper from Molik Reese pulled LTC to within 52-51 with 7:24 to play, then after a three-pointer by Rend Lake, Thompson hit two free throws to make the score 55-53, then Clint Wickliffe hit a three-pointer to put LTC on top, 56-55, with 6:02 remaining. Jenkins added a pair of free throws at the 4:18 mark for a 58-55 lead, but Rend Lake responded with consecutive baskets to take a 59-58 lead with 2:56 to play.

Jenkins then hit a jumper with 2:32 left to give the Statesmen a 60-59 lead and LTC had the ball following a Rend Lake miss, but a steal and layup by Rend Lake’s Cawhan Smith put the Warriors back in front, 61-60, with 1:21 remaining. Wickliffe then had a decent look at a three-pointer, but it was off the mark and Rend Lake hauled down the rebound. Following a time-out, Rend Lake was looking to add to its lead, but Reed picked off a cross-court pass and scored at the other end to put LTC back on top, 62-61, with 33.5 seconds left.

Rend Lake quickly went down the court, but Smith’s layup attempt was off the mark and Reese was fouled after grabbing the rebound. However, he would miss the front end of the one-and-bonus opportunity, giving Rend Lake another chance. Following a time-out, Rend Lake’s Jackson Creel worked across the lane, but his jump shot was blocked by DeMyers, who was then fouled with 1.7 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, he would also miss the front end of a one-and-bonus opportunity and Rend Lake called another quick time-out after securing the rebound.

With 1.3 seconds left on the clock, Rend Lake’s Carson Prost made a baseball pass three-fourths of the way down the court, which Joe Melton caught just above the three-point line. He quickly flipped the ball to a sprinting Jacob Schadegg, who let go of a shot from just inside half-court before the horn sounded, but it hit too hard off the glass and fell off the rim as time expired, allowing the Statesmen to escape with the win.

“We’ve been close,” Cotten said. “There is a fine line between winning and losing and we’ve been on the other side of it recently where it was one possession here or one possession there. But tonight, it fell in our favor and that’s what the hard-hat mentality we are carrying with us will do for you. It gives you a chance.”

Jenkins led LTC with 18 points, four rebounds, three steals and three assists, while Reed posted 12 points, six rebounds and one steal. Wickliffe contributed nine points, seven rebounds, two assists and one steal, DeMyers totaled nine points, four blocked shots, three rebounds, three steals and one assist, Thompson recorded six points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists, Reese collected four points, eight rebounds and three assists and Reid tallied four points, five rebounds and one assist.

Ian Reith led Rend Lake with 22 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots, while Smith posted 16 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals.

“We beat a really good team tonight,” Cotten said. “Rend Lake is a very well-coached basketball team and we had some guys step up and make some plays tonight and get us over the hump. I’m proud of our guys.”

The Statesmen followed up with another one-point win Wednesday night, beating Lake Land 74-73, but got their in a much different fashion.

Lincoln Trail dominated the majority of the game, but had to rally from behind in the closing stages to secure the win.

The Statesmen were in control early, holding their largest advantage at 40-21 late in the first half and still maintaining a 44-30 lead at halftime. Lincoln Trail was still in front 53-40 with less than 14 minutes to play, but Lake Land scored nine of the next 10 points to close the gap to 54-49. A three-pointer in transition by Reed pushed the LTC lead back to 57-49 with 10:36 remaining, but Lake Land reeled off nine straight points to take a 58-57 lead with 7:00 to play.

The lead would see-saw back and forth over the next few minutes until a long jumper in front of the LTC bench from Reed gave LTC a 67-66 lead with 2:33 to play. After a Lake Land miss, Reid was fouled on a putback attempt and he hit one of two free throws with 2:07 remaining to make the score 68-66.

Lake Land had two possessions with the chance to tie the game, but were unable to do so and the Statesmen hit enough free throws down the stretch to hold off Lake Land – barely. Jenkins made two free throws to make the score 70-66 with 38 seconds remaining, while Lake Land would score with 13.5 seconds left to close the gap to 70-68. Jenkins would make two more free throws with 12.4 seconds left, but Lake Land again scored quickly to trim the margin to two. Once again, Jenkins went to the line, this time with 5.7 seconds remaining and made both foul shots once again for a 74-70 LTC lead. Lake Land would make a three-pointer as time expired, but that still left them a point short, which allowed LTC to hold on for the win.

“We had poor ball security at times and Lake Land made a run like all good teams do,” Cotten said. “But, we displayed a lot of toughness and made some big free throws late that enabled us to get the win.”

Freddy Reeves Jr. led LTC with 21 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench, while Jenkins totaled 19 points, four assists, three rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot. Reed posted 15 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots, Wickliffe contributed 10 points, three rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot, DeMyers recorded six points, three rebounds, three blocked shots, one steal and one assist, Teleon Brown netted two points, one steal and one assist and Reid collected one point, four steals and one assist.

Everett Stubblefield and Dailiss Cox led Lake Land with 14 points apiece, while also in double figures were Malachi Davis with 13, Anthony Scales with 12 and Arnardo Camacho with 11.

Lincoln Trail (9-8, 3-5 GRAC, 4-5 Region 24) will play host to Lake Land College for a GRAC and Region 24 contest Wednesday at

At LTC Sports Center, Robinson

Rend Lake College     33 28 - 61

Lincoln Trail College 30 32 - 62

REND LAKE (61)

Carson Prost 1-1 0-2 0-0 2, Devan Edwards 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Creel 1-3 1-3 0-0 5, Jacob Schadegg 3-4 1-8 0-0 9, Cawhan Smith 8-12 0-0 0-0 16, Ian Reith 6-7 3-4 1-2 22, Race Rynski 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Terry Pelczynski 0-1 0-5 0-0 0, Joe Melton 2-5 1-1 0-0 7, TOTALS 21-34 2FG, 6-23 3FG, 1-2 FT, 61 TP.

LINCOLN TRAIL (62)

Wendell DeMyers 0-0 3-7 0-1 9, Clint Wickliffe 0-7 3-8 0-0 9, Jesse Laster 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Jaivion Reid 0-1 1-1 1-2 4, J.J. Reed 2-3 2-5 2-2 12, Greg Jenkins 6-11 0-4 6-7 18, Molik Reese 2-6 0-1 0-1 4, Teleon Brown 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Tobias Thompson 2-6 0-0 2-2 6, Freddy Reeves Jr. 0-0 0-2 0-0 0, TOTALS 12-34 2FG, 9-28 3FG, 11-15 FT, 62 TP.

Turnovers - RLC 17, LTC 12. Team fouls - RLC 11, LTC 13. Fouled out - none. Technical foul - none. Rebounds - (RLC 36) Reith 11, Smith 6, Creel 5, Schadegg 4, Pelczynski 4. (LTC 40) Reese 8, Wickliffe 7, Reed 6, Thompson 6, Reid 5, Jenkins 4, DeMyers 3, Brown. Steals - (RLC 4) Smith 2, Schadegg, Melton. (LTC 10) DeMyers 3, Jenkins 3, Thompson 2, Wickliffe, Reed. Assists - (RLC 9) Smith 6, Creel 3. (LTC 12) Jenkins 3, Reese 3, Wickliffe 2, Thompson 2, DeMyers, Reid. Blocked shots - (RLC 4) Reith 2, Melton 2. (LTC 4) DeMyers 4.

Lake Land College 30 43 - 73

Lincoln Trail College 44 30 - 74

LAKE LAND (73)

Malachi Davis 6 1-4 13, Anthony Scales 4 4-4 12, Everett Stubblefield 6 1-2 14, Arnardo Camacho 3 4-4 11, Amar Kuljuhovic 1 0-0 2, Dailiss Cox 5 3-6 14, Anthony Neal 1 0-0 2, Jesse Burdick 0 0-0 0, Yassin Hussein 2 1-1 5, TOTALS 28 FG, 14-21 FT, 73 TP.

LINCOLN TRAIL (74)

Wendell DeMyers 2 1-3 6, Clint Wickliffe 3 3-6 10, Jesse Laster 0 0-0 0, Jaivion Reid 0 1-2 1, J.J. Reed 6 1-2 15, Greg Jenkins 4 8-8 19, Molik Reese 0 0-0 0, Teleon Brown 1 0-0 2, Freddy Reeves Jr. 7 4-4 21, TOTALS 23 FG, 18-25 FT, 74 TP.

3-point goals - Stubblfield, Camacho, Cox, Reeves 3, Jenkins 3, Reed 2, Wickliffe, DeMyers.

Turnovers - LLC 15, LTC 13. Team fouls - LLC 21, LTC 17. Fouled out - none. Technical foul - none. Rebounds - (LTC 24) Reed 5, Reese 5, DeMyers 3, Wickliffe 3, Jenkins 3, Reeves 3, Reid 2. Steals - (LTC 11) Reid 4, Jenkins 3, Reeves 2, Brown, DeMyers. Assists - (LTC 14) Jenkins 4, Reese 3, Reeves 3, DeMyers, Wickliffe, Reid, Brown. Blocked shots - (LTC 7) DeMyers 3, Reed 2, Wickliffe, Jenkins.