By Alan Liang

Gargoyle staff reporter


Posted Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, The OG, boys basketball & exclusive & sports

Isaac Radnitzer eludes an NCB defender.
(Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)

URBANA — It's been a long time since a Uni High boys varsity basketball team lost an East Central Illinois Conference game. Three seasons in fact.

That winning streak came to an end Tuesday night as Normal Calvary Baptist defeated Uni 51-36 at Kenney Gym. Uni is now 6-10 overall and 2-1 in the ECIC.

The loss was the varsity's first in ECIC play since the 2003-04 season, when Uni went 10-2 and placed second to Decatur Christian. Uni lost twice to the conference champs that season, 56-54 on Jan. 9 and 67-54 on Feb. 3.

The Illineks won the ECIC title the next two years as they finished 12-0 in 2004-05 and 11-1 in 2005-06. (Last year's loss came when Decatur Lutheran's varsity beat Uni's JV 60-33.)

Normal Calvary Baptist, which has lost only to conference leader Judah Christian in ECIC action this season, is now 7-10, 2-1.

The first quarter of Tuesday's game showed promise as both teams pushed hard and played aggressively.

The game was tied at 11 when the Illineks made a lazy pass with less than a minute left, which allowed the Crusaders to take a 13-11 lead going into the second period.

From then on, the Illineks' play went downhill. The Crusaders got the bonus early, and Uni couldn't seem to break through NCB's full-court press. The half ended 31-20 in favor of the Crusaders.

“We didn't play well because we had too many turnovers,” said junior Frankie McFarland.

The third quarter wasn't much better. There were several Uni turnovers, and NCB's players drained multiple 3-pointers. At the end of the period the Illineks were burned by a 4-point play that made the score 44-28.

Things looked bleak, but senior Michael Belmont tried to spark a comeback by scoring 5 consecutive points with about 4:30 left on the clock. However, Uni was never able to significantly cut the lead, coming no closer than 49-36 with 3:20 remaining.

“We couldn't find any energy today,” said Belmont. “It's [been] a busy week, and [we] don't seem to have any energy.”

Junior Mike Renner, Uni's leading scorer this season, only came away with 5 points in what he called the “worst game [I] ever played in my life.”

It was just the fourth time in 16 games that Renner wasn't Uni's top scorer. (Renner sat out two of those contests with injuries.)

Belmont led the team with 11 points, followed by junior Isaac Radnitzer with 7.

The Illineks will try to get back on track when they face conference opponent DeLand-Weldon Friday at Kenney Gym. The Eagles have never beaten Uni in ECIC play. JV action is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

VARSITY RECORD: 6-10 overall, 2-1 East Central Illinois Conference
(Games at Kenney Gym are in bold)

Season Preview: A new era begins

Nov. 20: Buckley Christ Lutheran (Uni/Atwood-Hammond Central Illinois Turkey Tourney), W 50-44
— leading scorer: Michael Belmont, 12 pts
— story: Uni wins season opener over Buckley Christ Lutheran

Nov. 21: Mahomet-Seymour JV (vs. Uni varsity) (Uni/Atwood-Hammond Central Illinois Turkey Tourney), W 58-53
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 18 pts
— story: Illineks defeat Mahomet-Seymour JV in Turkey Tourney

Nov. 24: Bement (Uni/Atwood-Hammond Central Illinois Turkey Tourney), L 54-46 (OT)
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 13 pts
— story: Illineks fall in overtime

Nov. 25: Martinsville (Uni/Atwood-Hammond Central Illinois Turkey Tourney, at A-H), L 51-48
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 24 pts
— story: Illineks go down to the wire again

Dec. 1: Shiloh, W 55-46
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 29 pts
— story: Illineks get back on winning track, defeat Shiloh

Dec. 5: at St. Thomas More, L 54-32
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 7 pts
— story: Illineks suffer tough road loss to crosstown rival

Dec. 9: Fisher, L 53-39
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 21 pts
— story: Renner scores 21 but Uni falls to Fisher

Dec. 12: at Buckley Christ Lutheran, W 79-51 *
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 18 pts
— story: Uni wins conference opener against Buckley Christ Lutheran

Dec. 15: Oakwood, L 74-61
— leading scorer: Michael Belmont, 19 pts
— story: Oakwood denies Uni comeback bid

Dec. 27: Shiloh (Hayden's Athletic Classic at Heritage H.S.), L 65-61
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 17 pts
— story: Uni finishes eighth out of 12 teams in holiday tourney

Dec. 27: Salt Fork (Hayden's Athletic Classic at Heritage H.S.), L 53-32
— leading scorer: Dan Lilly, 10 pts
— story: Uni finishes eighth out of 12 teams in holiday tourney

Dec. 28: Heritage (Hayden's Athletic Classic at Heritage H.S.), L 62-48
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 15 pts
— story: Uni finishes eighth out of 12 teams in holiday tourney

Dec. 28: Atwood-Hammond (Hayden's Athletic Classic at Heritage H.S.), W 62-51
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 24 pts
— story: Uni finishes eighth out of 12 teams in holiday tourney

Dec. 29: Oakwood (Hayden's Athletic Classic at Heritage H.S.), L 52-50
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 17 pts
— story: Uni finishes eighth out of 12 teams in holiday tourney

Jan. 5: at Decatur Christian (DC's “JV,” as explained in article linked below), W 66-52 *
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 15 pts
— story: Illineks remain unbeaten in conference play

Jan. 9: Normal Calvary Baptist, L 51-36 *

— leading scorer: Michael Belmont, 11 pts

— story: see above

Remaining games: see schedule

*East Central Illinois Conference game