URBANA — And you thought soccer was Dan Lilly's game.

Less than two weeks after The News-Gazette recognized him as one of the area's top soccer players, the junior guard showed he's no slouch at basketball, either.

With the Illineks in danger of losing a game they had once led by double digits, Lilly took control and scored 14 points in the final quarter, including a last-second layup that gave Uni a 49-48 win over Shiloh Monday night at Kenney Gym.

"Dan played very well," head coach Joel Beesley said. "He had an outstanding performance, and we're hoping we can get the rest of the team to step up with him."

Lilly finished with 26 points to lead all scorers as Uni successfully began its pursuit of a second straight Central Illinois Turkey Tourney championship.

Last year the Illineks went 4-0 to claim the title, outscoring their opponents 296-151.

Monday night's game briefly looked like a reprise of last season's tournament opener, when Uni defeated Shiloh 80-32. This time the Illineks jumped out to a 15-2 first-quarter lead and went into halftime ahead 26-16.

But the Raiders came out strong in the third quarter while Uni went into a scoring drought. A 17-6 Shiloh run gave the visitors a 33-32 lead heading into the contest's final eight minutes.

"We had some trouble against their 1-3-1 zone, and that kind of hurt us, in the third quarter especially," Lilly said.

Thanks to strong three-point shooting, the Raiders upped their margin to eight points, and the game seemed to be slipping out of Uni's reach.

Lilly and his teammates kept their composure, though, and chipped away at the deficit.

With 3:41 left, Lilly tied the game at 40 and was fouled in the process. His free throw restored Uni's lead, but not for long as Shiloh pulled ahead again, 44-41.

Freshman Joseph Song, making a solid varsity debut, brought Uni even at 44, hitting a field goal and a free throw with 2:36 on the clock.

But Shiloh went back on top 46-44 and then extended its lead to 48-44 with only 43 seconds remaining.

The final five points of the game, however, belonged to Lilly. With 34.8 seconds left he made two free throws, followed by another foul shot with 9.5 seconds to go. But he missed a free throw that would have tied the game at 48, and things looked desperate for Uni.

The Illineks then quickly fouled the Raiders' Hunter Tweedy, who missed both shots. Uni took control of the ball, and Lilly drove to the basket, making the winning shot with less than a second to go. As the buzzer sounded, Lilly's teammates mobbed him in celebration.

"We just kind of broke down the lead bit by bit and eventually got to the point where we were down by one and we fouled and they missed both free throws," Lilly recalled. "There were about seven seconds left, and I drove the length of the court and kind of threw up a prayer, and it went in as time expired. But it was very gradual — we kept our composure nicely, which was good."

Added Beesley: "We started off strong, and Shiloh came back and played very good basketball, and we still managed to pull out a victory. A victory is all that counts."

Overall, Lilly saw some promising things in the way the Illineks played, despite allowing Shiloh to come back in the second half.

"I think it was clear early on that when we kind of got out and ran transition, we were able to do some good things," he said. "And when we wanted to, our defense was pretty good."

The team has plenty of work to do, Lilly said, but there's reason for optimism.

"I'd say we played one or two good quarters … the others were just OK. So if we can put together four good quarters and make sure we always hustle — always outhustle the other team — we'll be fine."

For Uni's 2008-09 schedule, see the OG Scoreboard.

Uni vs. Shiloh at a Glance

Game Summary

• Shl: 02 14 17 15 — 48
• Uni: 15 11 06 17 — 49

Individual Stats

• Dan Lilly (jr): 26 pts (3-4-8), 3 rebs, 3 assts, 3 stls
• Will Fernandez (so): 6 pts (3-0-0), 1 reb, 1 asst, 1 stl
• Alan Kessler (sr): 4 pts (2-0-0), 5 rebs, 1 asst, 1 stl
• Malcolm Taylor (sr): 4 pts (2-0-0), 3 rebs, 2 assts, 3 stls
• Nile Hamer (jr): 3 pts (1-0-1), 3 rebs, 1 stl
• Joseph Song (fr): 3 pts (1-0-1), 1 reb
• Charlie Wan (sr): 3 pts (0-1-0), 1 asst, 1 stl
• Costa Cangellaris (jr): 0 pts, 3 assts
• Warren Skoza (so): 0 pts, 4 rebs, 4 blks, 1 stl

Individual Leaders

• Points: Lilly, 26
• Three-pointers: Lilly, 4
• Free throws: Lilly, 8
• Rebounds: Kessler, 5
• Assists: Lilly and Cangellaris, 3 each
• Blocks: Skoza, 4
• Steals: Lilly and Taylor, 3 each

Team Stats

• Two-pointers: 12 (Shiloh: 15)
• Three-pointers: 5 (Shiloh: 4)
• Free throws: 10 (Shiloh: 6)
• Total points: 49 (Shiloh: 48)
• Rebounds: 20 (Shiloh: 21)
• Assists: 11
• Blocks: 4
• Steals: 11