Basketball Recap: Urbana Takes a Loss

Urbana lost against Champaign Central back in February of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Urbana Tigers lost to the Champaign Central Maroons on the road by a 67-53 margin. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 227th, while the Maroons are ranked 99th).

When it comes to explaining why Urbana lost, don't look at Jaylen McElmurry. Despite the final result, he posted 17 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kyree Hillsman, who put up ten points.

Champaign Central's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Chris Bush, who went 6 for 13 on his way to 17 points and five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Luke Swanson, who went 6 of 11 en route to 13 points along with seven boards and three steals.

Urbana dropped their record down to 7-13 with the loss, which was their third straight on the road. As for Champaign Central, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 14-9.

Urbana wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next match, a 57-38 defeat against St. Louis University on the 8th. As for Champaign Central, they will challenge Centennial at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Champaign Central is facing Centennial at the right time seeing as Centennial is stuck on a three-game losing streak.