A slew of undefeated junior college basketball teams will be featured in this weekend’s John Wood College Classic. The Lake Land men have blown away the competition, but will get a true test of the season against No. 18 Kirkwood tonight. On Saturday, the team will also take on an undefeated Rock Valley College squad. 

Team Records: 

Nov. 11: Lake Land College (2-0) vs. No. 18 Kirkwood Community College (3-0)

Nov. 12: Lake Land College (2-0) vs. Rock Valley College (2-0)

Where: John Wood College

Tickets: Tickets can be purchased at John Wood College

Tip-Off: 5 p.m. vs. Kirkwood; 1 p.m. vs. Rock Valley

Opponent’s Past Results: Kirkwood owns a three-game winning streak to start the season. Kirkwood defeated the Iowa Wesleyan University JV team 95-45. After that, the team defeated Illinois Valley Community College 94-76. On Tuesday, the Eagles narrowly beat Elgin Community College 71-69. Rock Valley owns two wins with a 78-56 win over Kishwaukee College and a 79-73 win over McHenry County College. 

Kirkwood’s Top Players: In the small sample size, it appears that Justin Recker is the team’s best scorer. Recker scored 26 points in the team’s opening win over Illinois Valley. Recker shot 8 of 13 from the field. Cassius Brooks added 21 points, while Arthur Cox is the team’s top bench player with 11 points and eight rebounds. 

Rock Valley’s Top Players: In the opening win, Jason Ernest and Blessing Nwotite each scored 17 points a piece. Ernest added 11 rebounds. Garrett Bertrand and Jordan Majeed added 14 points and 13 points respectively with Bertrand adding 10 rebounds. In the win over Elgin, Kenneth Garth led the way with 17 points with Ernest adding 12 points. 

Lake Land’s Past Results: Lake Land began the season with a 98-77 victory over Southeastern Illinois College. Johnny Close led the way with 29 points, while Yassen Hussein scored 21 points and 10 rebounds. Jahmir Tyrell added 16 points off of the bench. On Wednesday, Lake Land blew away Illinois Central College 103-69. Amar Kuljuhovic led the way with 17 points and 10 rebounds. 

What Lake Land Said: “There will be talented teams that will be coached very well and play very hard,” said LLC head coach Julian Larry. “We must come with focus and energy if we want to play well this weekend.”