:quality(70):focal(168x256:178x266)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/Q6FWMP3WQJEMHCG5GHRYBELB5M.jpg)
NEW LENOX - Lincoln-Way Central’s Jack Rimkunas spent most of his night on Tuesday battling in the low post with Bradley-Bourbonnais standout big man Nick Allen.
Allen, an Illinois State recruit, typically demands extra defensive attention and Lincoln-Way Central’s defensive philosophy was centered around using multiple players to always be sure they had a handle on where the talented big man was roaming.
Rimkunas was part of a rotation of players charged with that task, so much so that his offensive contributions were a bit understated for the first 31 minutes of play.
But he wouldn’t let time expire without making an impression on the offensive end as his 3-pointer with 50 seconds left proved to be pivotal in Lincoln-Way Central’s 56-52 SouthWest Suburban Conference victory.
Bradley (12-5, 5-2) seemed to finally climb its way back into control of the contest when Rontez Smith drained his fourth 3-pointer of the second half with just under three minutes to play. But the Boilermakers wouldn’t add on to one of its few leads of the game at 52-51, which afforded the Knights a window of opportunity.
And Rimkunas seized his moment. Finding himself free and clear on the wing, Rimkunas let it fly and it found nothing but the bottom of the net.
“I just remember my teammate Kevin Barrett threw me a perfect pass and I have to shoot it if I’m that wide open,” Rimkumas said. “I just heard someone from the bench say let it fly, so I did.”
Bradley couldn’t capitalize on its next possession and Korey Cagnolatti cemented the win by scoring and giving the Knights (13-6, 5-3) a multiple possession lead.
“I told Jack how much I appreciate how he’s accepted his role on this team,” Lincoln-Way Central coach Brian Flaherty said. “Jack could easily be a starter, but we bring him off the bench not because he’s our sixth-best player, but because he just gives us a lift when he comes in, in terms of energy.”
Rimkunas and Logan Baechtold drew the majority of the defensive assignments against Allen, who led all scorers with 20 points as he frequently found defenders aggressively defending him or a double team thwarting his path.
“We definitely made him work for it. And I think out of like a majority of the teams in our league I think our team is kind of built the best for trying to match his physicality and his size,” Flaherty said. “I mean, he’s going to do what he’s going to do and you hope to limit him the best that you can.”
Lincoln-Way Central broke away just before the halftime break building a 33-26 lead as Alex Panos knocked down a long 3-pointer as time expired.
The Boilermakers spent most of the second half trying to reel the Knights back in but didn’t really have success until midway through the fourth quarter.
Allen finally gave Bradley a 49-48 advantage with just over three minutes to play, but Barrett (16 points) quickly responded with a 3-pointer to give the Knights the lead back.
The game tightened considerably at that point as after Smith’s 3-pointer gave Bradley the lead back neither team scored for two minutes before Rimkunas provided the big 3-pointer.
“It was one stop and one lay-up and we win,” Bradley-Bourbonnais coach Ryan Kemp said. “It’s a fine line sometimes between winning and losing. It’s hard to win on the road and you’re going to have to play better than we did to win most nights.”