Logan blasts Lewis & Clark, 104-66

CARTERVILLE -- As good as the John A. Logan College men's basketball team has been pretty much all season, the Volunteers might have put together their best performance yet Wednesday night in a 104-66 blistering of Lewis & Clark at Brewer Gymnasium.
"You can't find a lot that went wrong in this basketball game," said Logan coach Kyle Smithpeters. "We jumped on them and did a good job defensively."
The game was tied at 25 when a three-point play by David Sloan at the 9:38 mark of the first half started an impressive and downright ridiculous 30-3 run that included 18 straight points.
After Jaiveon Eaves hit a 3-pointer and Quamain Nelson followed with a bucket, the Vols had a commanding 53-28 lead with four minutes still left before the break.
"We pressed up into them and made them have to drive," Smithpeters said. "Our rotations were good and they were throwing balls away. And we stepped up and hit free throws. It was great to see in a lot of areas."
Logan improved to 19-4 overall and has won six straight. The Vols are 10-1 at home. Lewis & Clark dropped to 11-10. In the previous meeting earlier this season, played in Godfrey on Dec. 2, the Volunteers edged the Trailblazers 104-102 in overtime.
Five players hit double figures for Logan in that game and six hit the mark Wednesday night.
Eaves led the way with 22 points and Sloan had a triple-double with 15 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds. Vonnie Patterson had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Romelo Burrell and Ronnie Carson both added 11 points and Derek Hawthorne Jr. had 10.
Jonah Jackson, who has been spoiling Logan fans with at least five 3-pointers per game most nights, was 1-for-5 from long range and had seven points.
"Six players in double figures and Jonah only hit one three," Smithpeters said. "We're not used to that. And that's fine."
Sloan's statistical numbers -- and his entertaining flair on the court -- stood out once again.
"He absolutely did a great job of orchestrating and being a wizard out there with the basketball," Smithpeters said. "He's becoming a monster and that's what we want him to be."
The three-point play by Sloan that started the monster run was followed by a big dunk from Burrell, then two straight baskets by Carson started the 18-0 run within the 30-3 stretch. Also memorable in that outburst was a clock-beating jumper by Eaves.
Hawthorne put down a pretty alley-oop slam and Jackson connected on his lone trey to help Logan take a 62-38 lead into halftime. The second half was more dominance as the Vols nearly kept the Blazers from reaching their halftime total.
Logan hit the century mark on a 3-pointer from Will Keller with 2:15 left. Marion's Justin Shadowens played the final six minutes and took two long 3-point attempts but missed both.
Dionte Raines led Lewis & Clark with 20 points.
Although Wednesday night's game wasn't part of the Great Rivers Athletic Conference's schedule, the Vols received some help in the conference standings when Wabash Valley defeated Southwestern Illinois, 86-83, on a long jumper by Marcus Garrett at the buzzer. That game, in Belleville, dropped SWIC to 9-2 in the GRAC, where JALC is 9-3.
Logan's next game is Saturday at Southeastern Illinois College in Harrisburg. In the first meeting, the Vols beat the Falcons by a score of 107-49 in Carterville.