Box Score INA, Ill. – No. 4 Parkland men's basketball dropped its second game of the season on Monday evening, a 70-67 defeat at Rend Lake in a Region 24 match-up. Falling to 13-2 on the season, Parkland was led by freshman forward Bruno Williams Jr. with 24 points and eight rebounds.  
 
In a game of runs, Rend Lake went on a five minute, 12-5 run to take a 68-61 lead that proved to be too much for Parkland to overcome in the final 1:30 on the clock. Forcing three turnovers in the final 90 seconds, the Cobras climbed back to within one point, 68-67, with four seconds left but a pair of Warrior free-throws outlasted a half-court heave that clanked off the back iron.
 
Dropping a career high 24 points to go along with eight boards, Bruno Williams Jr. led the Cobras in scoring and in rebounding in the defeat. The eighth time in 14 contests that the first-year Cobra forward has reached double figures, the 24 points tops his previous season high of 17 against North Arkansas back on November 2. The eight rebounds ranks second only to his 16-rebound performance at Lansing on November 10.  
 
After Parkland scored five of the first nine points in the game, Rend Lake made the first run of the game as the home team outscored the Cobras 18-7 over the following four minutes. Trailing by nine, Parkland went on a 9-0 run of its own to tie the score, 22-22, with 7:45 left in the first half. The two sides traded points over the following three minutes before a 9-5 Cobra run, including six straight points to take its largest lead of the half, sent Parkland into the locker room with a 38-35 advantage.
 
Coming out of halftime, Parkland continued to extend its lead out to 49-42 in the opening eight minutes. However, a three-minute scoring drought allowed Rend Lake to make a 10-0 run to erase the deficit and take its first lead, 52-49, of the second half on a three-pointer. A Tommy Makabu three on the following possession would level the score, 52-52, as the two sides traded buckets leading up to the 56-56 tie with 6:31 remaining. Parkland struggled to get stops on offense in Rend Lake's 12-5 run, including consecutive three-point plays off drives to the basket. A three-point play by Rose Jr. capped off the late Parkland push, drawing the Cobras within one, but proved to be too late.
 
Up next, Parkland will look to get back in the win column on Thursday, January 17, when the Cobras travel to Malcolm X for a 7 p.m. tipoff in Chicago, Illinois.