The next two games will shed some light on how hard Lake Land can hang with the nation’s best. Lake Land welcomes the No. 9 ranked team in the country, whose two losses are to the fourth-ranked team in junior college. If Lake Land can pull off this major upset, it would give the Lakers some real recognition, but also give the team a well-needed Region 24 victory. 

Here is the preview for tonight’s game. 

Team Records: Lake Land (14-12, 5-8) vs. No. 9 Vincennes (22-3, 0-0)

Where: Lake Land College

Tickets: Tickets can be purchased at Laker Fieldhouse. 

Tip-Off: 3:00 p.m.

Opponent’s Past Results: Vincennes opened the season with 12 consecutive wins. Two of the team’s losses are to NJCAA Division I No. 4 ranked John A. Logan. The first loss to John. A. Logan was 80-64 on December 14th. The other was this past Wednesday 78-68. Among familiar opponents, Vincennes has defeated Kaskaia 70-56, Lewis & Clark 90-59, Olney Central 73-67, Shawnee 70-52, Lincoln Trail 83-69, Wabash Valley 84-61, Kaskakia 84-61, Lewis & Clark 71-63, and Shawnee 84-65. Their other loss was to Southwestern Illinois 59-50 on January 16th. 

Vincennes Top Players: The team features a very balanced scoring attack but is headlined by sophomore forward Caleb Johnson’s 16.3 points. Johnson is shooting 55.7% from the field and 40.0% from three-point range. Ryan Oliver is another sharpshooter at 37.0% from three-point range. Three members of the team shoot at least 55% from the field. Along with Johnson, that includes Shilo Jackson and Michael Osei-Bonsu, who also brings 8.6 rebounds per game to the table. Defensively, both Jackson and Johnson average at least 1.0 blocks per game. 

Opponent’s Potential Starting Lineup

G: Tasos Cook: 6-foot-2 sophomore:  10.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 4.0 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.6 BPG

G: Ryan Oliver: 6-foot-3 freshman: 6.6 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.7 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG

F: Caleb Johnson: 6-foot-5 sophomore: 15.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.0 APG, 0.9 SPG, 1.1 BPG

F: Michael Osei-Bonsu: 6-foot-4 freshman: 8.6 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.6 BPG

C: Shilo Jackson: 6-foot-9 sophomore: 7.9 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.3 SPG, 1.4 BPG

Lake Land’s Past Results: Lake Land has gone 2-4 in their last six games. That goes back to losses to Southwestern (83-72) and Wabash Valley (98-72) in January. In February, the team lost to Lewis & Clark 102-91 and Olney Central 77-73. On Wednesday, Lake Land picked up a 90-85 win over Shawnee. Dailliss Cox led Lake Land with 26 points. Tyler Chapman provided 15 points in a starting role, while Amar Kuljuhovic provided a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. 

Lake Land’s Recent Starting Lineup

G: Tyler Chapman, 6-foot-0 freshman: 4.7 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG

G: Johnny Close: 6-foot-4 sophomore: 14.6 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.0 BPG

G: Dailliss Cox: 6-foot-6 sophomore: 12.5 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.4 BPG

F: Amar Kuljuhovic: 6-foot-9 sophomore: 12.4 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.8 BPG

F: Yassen Hussein: 6-foot-9 sophomore: 12.6 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.7 SPG, 2.7 BPG