Southeastern Community College men's basketball hosts Illinois Central to begin final stretch of schedule
Never take anything for granted.
That is a lesson the Southeastern Community College men's basketball team learned the hard way on Saturday.
Coming off an 88-86 win over then eighth-ranked Indian Hills in the Region XI opener on January 8 in Ottumwa, the Blackhawks came home and suffered their first home loss in 10 games, a 74-72 setback to then No. 23 Triton College.
It was a painful loss for the Blackhawks, but one which head coach Lorenzo Watkins hopes will be an eye-opener for his team moving forward.
It was the second time this season — SCC lost to Morton College in the Highland (Illinois) Tournament last month — that the Blackhawks took an opponent lightly, only to get burned.
With just nine games left on the schedule — seven home, two road — and three of them against Region XI teams, SCC has little room for error from here on out.
Previously: No. 12 Southeastern Community College basketball becomes the prey against Triton College
SCC (17-3), ranked 13th in the latest NJCAA Division I rankings, will play Illinois College (8-7) in a makeup game at 7 p.m. Thursday at Loren Walker Arena.
Watkins is anxious to see how his team will respond to adversity.
"Every game is big for us form here on out," Watkins said. "I told our guys before the Triton game that this is what I feared. Your maturity level shows after a big win or a loss in how you handle it. We beat Indian Hills and then Indian Hills went over to Triton and beat them. Our guys start thinking, 'Oh, we beat Indian Hills, so we'll beat Triton no problem.' You can't look at a team's record and think they are just going to come in here and lay down for you."
SCC is averaging 77.5 points per game and allowing just 65.4 points per contest.
Jesiah West leads the Blackhawks in scoring (14.6 points per game) and rebounding (9.9 per game) and is tied with Davion Bailey for the team lead in steals (1.4 per game).
Bailey is averaging 13.3 points and and a team-leading 2.9 assists.
Bruce Carpenter is averaging 8.6 points per game.
Illinois Central is coming off an 84-81 win over Lincoln Land and is 5-3 in road games.
Tony Maban, Jr. leads the Cougars in scoring, averaging 14.9 points per game. Zach Lewkowski is averaging 10.2 points, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals, while Lavell McIntosh is averaging 8.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest.
Watkins knows all too well what happens when teams take opponents lightly. Back in the 2015-16 season, Illinois Central came in to Loren Walker and handed the Blackhawks a 60-55 loss.
"They make you defend them and they make you work hard on the other end. That's why we play them and John Wood at the end of the season," Watkins said. "They know what to expect. They've been coming here for the last 10 or 12 years. Their coach is accustomed to coming in to play in this environment."
With a trip to Marshalltown looming on Saturday, the Blackhawks must focus on the task at hand — Illinois Central College.
"We talk about validating. How are you going to play coming off a big win or a big loss. Our guys need to play with more of a sense of urgency right now," Watkins said. "Everything is in out hands right now. We control our own destiny. We are at the top of the mountain in the conference right now. But we have to realize that everyone wants to knock you down. How will we respond? We are going to find out Thursday and Saturday."
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: SCC basketball hopes to avoid errors as regular season nears end
