Martin's Huge 2nd Half Sends Sandburg Past Skyhawks

  Aaron Frey
  Tuesday, February 6, 2018 11:35 PM
  Athletics

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.

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