Carl Sandburg College Men and Women Split Basketball Doubleheader in Galesburg

Katie Droste, CSC Women’s Basketball

Galesburg, IL- The Carl Sandburg College women’s basketball team went cold in the second half as it dropped a 60-54 Arrowhead Conference contest against Sauk Valley on Tuesday night at John M. Lewis Gymnasium.

The Chargers (10-13, 3-3) fell to .500 against league opponents after shooting 31 percent (9 of 29) from the floor and hitting only 1 of 10 from 3-point range after halftime against the Skyhawks (9-11, 3-3).

Sandburg took a 31-29 lead into the break after hitting 43 percent of its shots in the opening two quarters, but Sauk Valley opened the second half with a 12-2 burst to go ahead. The Chargers battled back to take a short-lived lead at 47-46 with 7:05 to go when Jordan Price (Fulton, Ill./Fulton) fed Katie Droste (Biggsville, Ill./West Central) for a 3-pointer, but Sandburg didn’t make another field goal until there was :16.3 left with Sauk Valley ahead 58-50.

Madison Lowe (Dunlap, Ill./Dunlap) had 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and six rebounds to pace the Chargers. Alivia Cummings (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) added 13 points and four steals. Droste also had four steals for Sandburg, and Price finished with nine points, five boards and four assists.

Kennedy Kuykendall scored a game-high 18 for the Skyhawks. Jaida Carson added 16 points and seven boards for Sauk Valley.

Sandburg is home for another conference clash at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against Kishwaukee.

Kourtlandt Martin, CSC Men’s Basketball

Galesburg, IL- Kourtlandt Martin (Evansville, Ind./Central) erupted for 20 points in the second half and ignited a go-ahead run in the closing minutes as the Carl Sandburg College men’s basketball team came back to defeat Sauk Valley 82-69 on Tuesday at John M. Lewis Gymnasium.

Martin finished with a game-high 27 points after shooting 6 of 7 from the floor — including a perfect 5 for 5 from 3-point range — and 10 of 14 from the foul line. He also had five of the 17 steals on the night for the red-hot Chargers (17-8, 5-1), who have won seven of eight and remain a game back of Highland for first place in the conference.

Sandburg led 32-30 at halftime but saw the Skyhawks (14-11, 2-4) go up by six midway through the second half. Sauk Valley led 60-56 with 6:30 left before back-to-back 3s from Martin sparked a run that saw the Chargers score 15 straight points and 23 of the next 26 to go up 79-60 with 1:43 to play. Martin scored 14 during the game-changing stretch, including four 3s.

Matt Wendling (Athens, Ill./Athens) and Tyler Houston (Knoxville, Ill./Knoxville) each added 13 points for the Chargers, with Houston matching Martin’s game-best five steals. Deandrey Robinson (Peoria, Ill./Peoria) had 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds for Sandburg.

Anthony Martinez scored a team-best 19 for Sauk Valley, and Montel Brown had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Chargers will be home for another conference matchup at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Kishwaukee.