CLEVELAND – UIC mounted a second-half comeback that propelled the Flames to their first Horizon League victory away from home in as many chances Thursday night as it defeated the Cleveland State Vikings, 59-54.
 
The Flames (9-8, 2-2 Horizon League) got big contributions off the bench as reserves Clint Robinson and Dominique Matthews contributed 11 points apiece to lead the squad in scoring. Robinson also added seven rebounds, including five in the first half.
 
It was the second consecutive road win for UIC and its third victory away from home this season. In both recent road victories the Flames found themselves trailing at the half before roaring back to snag a win in a hostile environment.
 
How It Happened

• After Cleveland State (5-12, 1-4 Horizon League) won the opening tip UIC's Tai Odiase stole the ball and scored under the rim to start things off on the right foot for the Flames.
• The visiting team soon pushed its lead up five points, 8-3, when Clint Robinson scored four unanswered points off the bench.
• Shots were not falling with regularity on either end throughout much of the first half, but UIC maintained a six-point cushion, its largest of the half, when Robinson split a pair of free throws with 3:02 remaining in the period. The Flames hit a rut on offense from that point forward as they were held entirely off the scoreboard. Four turnovers over the final three minutes also helped spur Cleveland State on a 9-0 run to end the half to give the Vikings a 23-20 lead at the intermission.
• About six minutes into the second half the Flames fell behind by nine points, 39-30, when Bobby Word made a 3-pointer.
• Boahen and Robinson soon scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit to five before Matthews drilled a 3-pointer of his own off a feed from Kyle Guice to make it a one-possession game with 11:39 remaining.
• The Vikings continued to hold the lead until Boahen evened things up on the scoreboard at 44 points apiece with a 3-pointer at the 7:39 mark.
• Following turnovers by both teams, Word scored a layup that put Cleveland State back up 46-44. Just over 90 seconds later it was Matthews from downtown once again to give the Flames a 47-46 advantage.
• Matthews' shot sparked a 10-point run that spanned under three minutes and finished when K.J. Santos scored inside with 2:29 remaining in the contest.
• Cleveland State trimmed the eight-point deficit to three with 1:17 left. Michael Kolawole drove all the way to the goal and scored off the glass with 1:08 to go to push the lead back to five.
• Moments later Tarkus Ferguson made 1-of-2 from the free throw line with just 11.3 seconds left to seal the five-point victory, 59-54.

 Beyond The Box Score

• After being limited to 20 points over the first 20 minutes, UIC's offense nearly doubled that effort with 39 points in the second half. The Flames shot close to 27 percent in the first half, but connected at a clip of close to 61 percent (14-of-23) in the second half. UIC accumulated seven of its 10 assists in the game in the final period.
• The Flames made four of six shots from beyond the arc in the second half.
• Matthews and Robinson scored all 22 of UIC's bench points. It was the first time this season that either player led the Flames in scoring this season.
• Godwin Boahen was also in double digits with 10 points. All 10 of his tallies came on 4-of-5 from the field in the second half.
• Santos matched a career high and paced all players with nine rebounds Thursday. He had a career-best eight boards on the defensive end.
• The Flames had only six second-half turnovers, while the Vikings were plagued by seven over the final 20 minutes of play.
• The defensive effort was also pivotal in the second half. Cleveland State's leading scorer, Rob Edwards, was held to only three points in the second half, all of which came from the free throw line.
• UIC used its fourth different starting lineup in the last four games. Kolawole made his first start of the season and played a season high 27 minutes. Santos returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 30 vs. Valparaiso. It was the freshman's 11^th career start.
• Odiase matched a season high with a game-best three steals. He entered the contest ranked sixth nationally in blocks per game and added three more of those against the Vikings, as well.

 What's Next?

• The Flames have a day off before finishing their brief two-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 14 at Youngstown State.
• The Penguins are 8-10 on the season and 2-3 in Horizon League play after falling at home against Valparaiso Thursday night, 78-62.
• Saturday's game tips off at 6 p.m. CT and it can be seen on ESPN3.