Posted Saturday, Feb. 18, 2006, The OG, sports

The nine players who make up the Illineks' Class of 2006 put an exclamation point on their Uni basketball careers Friday night with a resounding 68-29 home victory over visiting Judah Christian.

The Senior Night triumph was Uni's 21st consecutive win at Kenney Gym and 15th straight overall. The East Central Illinois Conference champs ended their regular season 21-5 overall and 11-1 in the ECIC. [Note: The conference loss was by the JV's A team to Decatur Lutheran's varsity on Jan. 9 and doesn't count against the Uni varsity's overall record.]

Senior Zhe Gao continued his breakout season by leading all Uni scorers with 13 points, including two treys. Other statistical leaders: Gao and senior Al Renner each pulled down six rebounds, Renner and senior Udara Cabraal had two steals apiece, and Renner and Gao each dished out three assists.

Senior Austin Berger scored 12 points, followed by Al Renner and sophomore Mike Renner with nine apiece. Senior Cameron Cropek added eight points and five rebounds.

Rounding out the scoring were seniors Daniel Jacobs with six points, Ben Sims with five, Robbie Robinson with four, and Justin Park with two.

Uni started out a bit slowly, leading only 14-8 at the end of the first quarter. The sluggish start was perhaps understandable given the magnitude of Tuesday's overtime road win against Unity.

The Illineks stepped it up in the second quarter, building a 32-18 halftime lead punctuated by a Gao three-pointer as time ran out.

Uni didn't score again until 5:14 into the third quarter. Berger put on a one-man show for a stretch, nailing six straight points for the Illineks as they finally got back on track. By the time the third quarter ended, Uni led 42-26.

The final quarter was a 26-3 mismatch, made interesting only by several failed attempts to dish the ball inside to Gao for the dunk he had alluded to in his OG Q&A with Sergei Pourmal.

The best moment of the night for Illinek fans came with 3:11 remaining, when Al Renner was taken out for the final time. Before heading to the bench, Renner knelt at center court and kissed the UH logo to applause from the packed student section.

The Illineks begin their quest for a Class A regional playoff title Monday at Armstrong. Their first-round opponent will be Judah Christian, yet again, in a game that will get under way at 8 p.m.

If Uni wins as expected, the second-round game will pit the Illineks against Armstrong at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

How good, historically speaking, is the Class of 2006? This year's 21-5 record is the third best in school history, behind the 24-4 mark set in 1943-44 and last year's 23-5 record.

Over a two-year span, the 2004-05 and 2005-06 Illineks have compiled a 44-10 record, bettering the 44-11 mark set by the 1943-44 and 1944-45 teams.

Over a three-year span, the Class of 2006 has amassed a 59-19 record. The three Uni teams from 1942-43 to 1944-45 went 59-18.

— Gargoyle staff

[Note: This article has been edited since it was originally posted. Information clarifying Uni's conference record has been added to the second paragraph.]