Nov. 17, 2007
Final Stats
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands- The UIC men's basketball team fell in heartbreaking fashion to Charlotte in its second contest of the 2007 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Saturday, as 49er guard Leemire Goldwire hit a go-ahead step-back three-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in the Flames' 64-63 loss.
Josh Mayo led the Flames (2-2) with a game-high 15 points, all scored in the second half.
Spencer Stewart chipped in 10 points, while Jermaine Dailey scored a career-high eight points.
Jeremy Buttell pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, and Scott VanderMeer had five rebounds and five blocked shots.
The game was back-and-forth throughout. Both teams shot poorly in the first half as UIC and Charlotte (3-1) each went 8-for-27 from the field to hit at an identical 29.6 percent clip.
Charlotte outscored UIC 5-1 in the final 3:36 of the first half to take a four-point lead into intermission.
Out of the break the 49ers would build their lead to as much as nine after they scored the first five points of the second half, but UIC answered with an 13-2 run that was capped by a Mayo three-pointer at the 12:36 mark to give the Flames a two-point lead.
Charlotte would hold a slight lead throughout the second half, but UIC would make its late run. With the Flames trailing by three after Lamont Mack's three-pointer with just over four minutes to go, Stewart made two consecutive layups to put UIC ahead 60-59 with just 1:05 remaining.
But the 49ers rebounded a Goldwire miss from downtown and gave the deadly sharpshooter a second chance from beyond the arc that he converted over the outstretched left arm of Dailey with just 12 ticks left to put Charlotte back on top, 62-60.
Stewart pushed the ball up and missed a fadeaway jumper in the lane with three seconds left on the clock, forcing the Flames to foul. Charles Dewhurst hit both attempts to put the game out of reach with eighth-tenths on the clock.
Mayo then swished through a seemingly effortless half court buzzer-beater at the end of the game with UIC trailing by four to trim the final margin to a single point.
All of Mayo's points came from downtown, as the junior guard made 5-of-7 from three-point range. The Flames hit 7-of-10 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes after 1-for-9 three-point shooting in the opening stanza.
UIC will play Wichita State in the finale of the Paradise Jam on Monday at noon Central.
