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Boys basketball: Uni easily handles crosstown rival in 71-49 win over Judah

By cyoder
Published: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 1:17am
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POSTGAME COMMENTS:
JOEL BEESLEY
Click to listen

Head coach Joel Beesley talks about his team's conference victory over Judah Christian — not pretty at times, but it was Uni's second win in two tries over a Champaign team this season.

Note: For a breakdown of stats from this game, click here. For season results and remaining games, click here. Listen to head coach Joel Beesley's postgame comments at right.

URBANA — Senior Mike Renner scored 18 points, including three 3-pointers, as the Illineks easily handled conference foe Judah Christian 71-49 Tuesday night at Kenney Gym.

The win is Uni's sixth straight, pushing the team's record to 15-5 overall, 5-1 in the East Central Illinois Conference.

Despite excellent rebounding, Uni struggled to hit shots early on. Then the Illineks went on a 12-0 run for 3 minutes in the first quarter, taking a 14-7 lead and wouldn't trail for the rest of the game.

The hosts built on their lead in the second quarter, taking a 39-30 advantage into halftime after sophomore Dan Lilly hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the half. But head coach Joel Beesley was not impressed by his team's defensive showing.

"We were horrible defensively tonight," said Beesley. "We talked about defense the whole second half. … I thought we played better in the second half. [Judah] still missed some of those shots they missed in the first half, which helped us, but we have to play better defense on Thursday [against Georgetown Notre Dame de LaSalette] to be successful."

The Illineks opened the third quarter on a 15-3 run to take a 21-point lead. The game was never really in doubt from that point on. Uni held the Tribe to 10 points that quarter, and 9 in the final period to close out the victory.


Senior Chumar Williams eyes a possible steal during Uni's 71-49 victory over Judah Christian.
Gargoyle photo (click to enlarge)

Rebounding was also key to Uni's success on the evening. All 10 Illineks who entered the game grabbed at least 1 rebound.

The Illineks had 24 boards on the evening, many of them allowing the team to put up second, third, and fourth chances to score.

Seniors Isaac Radnitzer and Austin Rundus joined Renner in double figures, with 12 points apiece for the Illineks.

Fellow senior Chumar Williams added 9 points and team highs of 4 assists and 4 steals. Lilly added 8 points, including a pair of treys.

The win is Uni's seventh in a row over Judah — the varsity boys have not lost to Judah since the 2001-02 season. Last year, Uni defeated the Tribe twice: 65-52 on the road, and 63-61 in overtime to clinch a share of the ECIC title.

"Every game’s a new game," said Beesley. "But the fact that we’ve beaten them a lot in a row is big for us."

The Illineks are undefeated against Champaign opponents this season. On Dec. 4 they beat St. Thomas More 63-45.

In JV action, Uni defeated Judah 33-30.

Both the varsity and JV are scheduled to travel to Georgetown on Thursday to face Notre Dame de LaSalette.

THE VARSITY SEASON SO FAR

2007-08 BOYS VARSITY BASKETBALL: 15-5 overall, 5-1 ECIC
(home matches listed in bold)

Nov. 19: Shiloh (Central Illinois Turkey Tourney), W 80-32

Nov. 20: Buckley Christ Lutheran (Central Illinois Turkey Tourney), W 69-17

Nov. 23: Bement (Central Illinois Turkey Tourney), W 73-59

Nov. 24: Martinsville (Central Illinois Turkey Tourney championship game), W 74-43

Nov. 30: at Shiloh, W 72-23

Dec. 4: St. Thomas More, W 63-45

Dec. 14: at Oakwood, L 67-54

Dec. 18: Uni JV vs. BCL Varsity, W 40-23 (counts toward Uni's ECIC record only)

Dec. 27: Heritage (Hayden's Classic at Heritage), W 67-32

Dec. 27: Georgetown-Ridge Farm (Hayden's Classic at Heritage), W 63-41

Dec. 28: Salt Fork (Hayden's Classic at Heritage), L 71-64

Dec. 28: Atwood-Hammond (Hayden's Classic at Heritage), W 59-42

Dec. 29: Fisher (Hayden's Classic at Bismarck-Henning), L 60-42

Jan. 4: Decatur Christian, L 63-60 (OT)

Jan. 5: Lexington, L 51-48

Jan. 8: at Normal Calvary Baptist, W 74-51

Jan. 11: at DeLand-Weldon, W 70-25

Jan. 12: at Fisher, W 71-60

Jan. 15: Paxton-Buckley-Loda, W 71-57

Jan. 17: Decatur Lutheran School Association, W 69-56

Jan. 22: Judah Christian, W 71-49

2007-08 schedule: Click here for the Gargoyle Scoreboard, which includes remaining varsity games.

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