National News Archive

 February 5, 2013

INA, Ill. (Feb. 5, 2013) – Led by Montez Williams (East St. Louis) with 15 points, the Rend Lake College Warriors had 11 players contribute to the scoring column – three with double digits – in its 73-68 win at Lincoln Trail on Saturday. The win puts RLC in a tie for the top spot in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference. 

RLC, now 16-2 overall and 8-2 in the GRAC, is lockstep with Southwestern Illinois College (15-5-1) and will head to Danville Area Community College on Wednesday. It’s an important game for the Warriors, since it will help paint the postseason picture in the National Junior College Athletic Association’s DII Region XXIV Tournament. The winner of that tournament will move on to nationals.

"That’s a big game for us at Danville,” said RLC Assistant Coach Tommy Holder. “They are up there with us as one of the top teams in the region.”

DACC is 20-3 overall and 5-0 against opponents in the Midwest Athletic Conference. Teams in that conference include Parkland (13-8, 0-4), Lincoln Land (13-9, 0-3), Lincoln (15-9, 2-2), John Wood, (16-6, 3-1), Illinois Central (14-11, 1-1) and DACC. Those are also the teams Rend Lake might face in the Region XXIV Tournament, which is being hosted by John Wood this year and will run March 8-10 in Quincy.
    
The region tournament is most likely a small blip on RLC Head Coach Randy House’s radar right now. It will definitely grow as the Warriors go through its nine remaining games in the regular season. But for now, the odds are Rend Lake is hungry for a conference championship. Six of the DII program’s remaining games are against DI foes in the GRAC.
    
After Danville, Rend Lake will head to SWIC on Feb. 9. The Blue Storm beat RLC 79-62 on Jan. 7. Then it’s back home against Southeastern Illinois on Feb. 13. RLC won its first meeting with the Falcons, 69-50, on Jan. 9. Rend Lake will play at Kaskaskia on Feb. 16. The Blue Devils will be looking to avenge its 80-74 loss to the Warriors on Jan. 12. On Feb. 18, the Warriors will play at Olney Central. RLC won 78-66 when it hosted the Knights on Jan. 16.
    
RLC’s Homecoming game is Feb. 20 against Wabash Valley. Rend Lake took the first War of the Warriors, 81-76, on Jan. 19. Rend Lake’s last conference game will be at John A. Logan on Feb. 23. The Warriors will attempt to repeat its 87-64 routing of the Volunteers on Jan. 21 at RLC.
    
The final two games of Rend Lake’s regular season are Feb. 27 at Lincoln College and Feb. 28 at John Wood. Both will have postseason implications.
    
For all things athletic at The Lake, visit RLC online at www.rlc.edu/warriors.