The Illini West Chargers will head out on the road to face off against the Havana Ducks at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Tuesday, Illini West was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 49-44 to Liberty. Illini West has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Despite the loss, Illini West got a solid performance out of Colby Robertson, who scored ten points along with five rebounds and four steals. Robertson hasn't dropped below two steals for eight straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Stephen Sparks, who scored seven points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Havana's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their sixth straight loss. They suffered a tough 54-34 loss at the hands of Athens. While losing is never fun, Havana can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 704th, while Athens is ranked 314th).
Illini West's loss dropped their record down to 6-5. As for Havana, their loss dropped their record down to 2-8.
Everything came up roses for Illini West against Havana when the teams last played back in February as the team secured a 67-19 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Illini West since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
