Feb. 11, 2006
Box Score
Chicago, Ill. - The UIC men's basketball team came up just short in its bid for a third consecutive victory on Saturday night, dropping a hard-fought 71-68 decision to visiting Loyola in front of 5,237 at the UIC Pavilion.
Trailing by three in the final seconds, UIC freshman Josh Mayo's game-tying triple attempt hit the front iron and bounced away to give the Ramblers (14-9, 6-7) their fourth straight win in this cross-town series. The Flames fell to 12-13 on the year and 5-8 with the loss.
Mayo was one of three UIC players to finish in double figures. Senior Justin Bowen totaled a team-high 19 points while adding nine rebounds. Sophomore Kevin Bond came off the bench for 11 points. Sophomore Othyus Jeffers paced UIC on the boards with 11.
The one-two punch of Loyola's Blake Schilb and Majak Kou proved to be potent, once again, as Kou dropped in a game-high 21 points while Schilb added 13.
The duo combined for the Ramblers' first 12 points as Loyola enjoyed an early lead that grew to as many as 13 (36-23) in the first half.
UIC would trail just 40-34 at intermisssion and then scored the first five points of the second half to pull with one, 40-39.
The Flames would take their lone lead of the second half, 55-53, on a three-pointer from Jovan Stefanov with 11:25 remaining. Loyola followed UIC's surge with a 10-3 run to push its cushion back up to five (65-60) at the 7:54 mark.
The Flames wouldn't go away with Bowen's lay-in off a steal pulling the team to within a single tally, 69-68, with :12 left. UIC fouled Tracy Robinson on the inbounds and the sophomore calmly netted both charity tosses to give Loyola a three-point advantage and the final margin of victory.
UIC will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 15th, when they travel to Horizon League-leading UW-Milwaukee for a 7:00 p.m. tip.
