Columbia, SC – The CIU Men's basketball team played an exhibition game of historic proportions Wednesday night as the Rams traveled to Colonial Life Arena to take on the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. Despite only being a few miles from each other, it would be the first meeting between the two schools. The matchup was USC's first of the year coming off a 4th place regular-season finish in the Southeastern Conference during 2018 - 2019 season. CIU came into the contest 1-0 after downing Trinity Baptist College last Friday evening.
 
1st Half: USC 46 CIU 23 – Jeff McIlwain started the scoring off for the Rams with a free throw. After a quick spurt by the Gamecocks, a three-pointer by Corey Benton would cut the deficit to five 9-4. CIU would then find themselves down 18-4 until a deep two by Darrian Oates would get the Rams back on the board. Midway through the half with the Rams trailing, senior John Johnson would bury a three from the top of the arc. A few possessions later, Johnson drilled another three-pointer while being fouled, he went on to knock down the free three throw completing the four-point play. With 2:00 remaining in the first half, the Rams would run a brilliant out of out-of-bounds set, giving freshman Skyler McKinney an easy layup and his first points of the contest. CIU would trail going into halftime with Johnson leading the way with 10 points.
 
2nd Half USC 87 CIU 50 -The Rams would start the half with a 9-0 run behind threes from Johnson, Corey Benton, and Skyler McKinney slicing into the Gamecock lead 46-32. A few short plays later, McKinney would drain another from behind the arc, cutting the Gamecock advantage to just 13. The Gamecocks, however, would respond by pounding the ball inside to Maik Kotsar and Wildens Levque. The Rams held their own while feeding the ball to center Jeff McIlwain, who promptly completed an and-one play after being fouled on a made jump hook. The Rams would once go again to McIlwain who would hit a fall away over Kotsar and then moments later score on Kotsar again in the post.  McIlwain would lead the Rams in the half with 7 points.  CIU would battle valiantly for the remainder of the game but would ultimately be overcome by deadly shooting from Gamecock sophomore AJ Lawson.
 
Game Notes

• John Johnson led the scoring effort for the Rams posting 13 points on 4-6 shooting from behind the arc in only 18 minutes.
• Senior Jeff McIlwain held his own against the South Carolina bigs with 10 points and 6 boards.
• Freshman Skyler McKinney had a solid night of 8 points, 6 of which came from three-point range.
• The Rams started the second half on a 14-4 run.
• CIU had 8 different players score in the contest.

 
Coach Stockman Quotables
 
On the game

"I thought it was an awesome experience. The support of our fans and our community was great. It was just overall good for our guys to get the opportunity to play at this level."

On senior John Johnson

" He played like a senior. The stage wasn't too big for him. He stayed calm throughout and continued to make the right plays."

On senior Jeff McIlwain

"Jeff has worked extremely hard in the weight room this summer. He always plays better against bigger guys, and I thought tonight he played well and competed.
 
Up Next
CIU will travel to Georgia on Friday to face NAIA foe Brewton Parker at 8 PM.