Apaches finish with 6-22, 3-7 record in conference
By Tony Nelson
The men’s basketball team ended their season on Feb. 16 when they lost their first playoff game to Joliet 88-70; Joliet then went on to lose the playoff championship to Harper.
The loss left IVCC with a 6 - 22 record, 3 - 7 in the conference.
"Everyone was focused for the game and I thought we were ready to play," said coach Mike Riley.
The Apaches were down only 1 after the first half, but the Apaches were unable to score for the first five minutes of the second half.
"We came out flat in the second half, " the coach said.
The Apaches 10 three-pointers, 7 of them by Derek Baird, kept them close in the second half.
"We ran out of time and needed to foul to stop the clock," the coach said. "This was when the score spread. It was really an 8-point game most of the way."
Riley said that part of their problem was that Lacey Tyler was in foul trouble.
"He has been such a key player for us with his creating and taking the ball to the basket," Riley said.
Tyler ended up as the Apache leader in two-point field goal percentage for the year at 63 percent. Tyler had 14 points against Joliet, and Baird was the high scorer for the Apaches with 29.
This year the Apaches were outrebounded 987 to 850 in total rebounds and 401 to 266 in offensive rebounds.
About next year, Riley said, "We have shooters, but we need to improve our rebounding; we need to win in the trenches."
Riley also said they need to cut down on turnovers as they had 522 this year.
"We have a nice nucleus for next year," Riley said.
Among the returners are Craig Olson and Baird. Olson shot 49 percent on threes this year. Baird shot 44 percent on threes and was the team’s leading scorer with 15.2 per game.
"We are waiting for April 1 so we can start signing recruits," said Riley. "With tuition waivers we could keep a lot of the district players."
Riley also said that waivers would help them to get out of district players.
March 15, 1999 the Apache