Feb. 16, 2008
Box Score
Fairborn, Ohio- A pair of free throws by Wright State's Cooper Land with 6.9 seconds left were the difference in the UIC men's basketball team's 52-51 loss to the Raiders at the Ervin J. Nutter Center on Saturday night.
Josh Mayo paced all scorers with 16 points, scoring 14 of those in the second half for the Flames (14-12, 8-7 Horizon League).
UIC led for a majority of the final period, going up by as many as six points with just over four minutes remaining after Mayo hit his fourth three-pointer of the second half.
Jordan Pleiman's layup on the next Wright State (19-6, 11-4 Horizon League) possession trimmed the Flames' lead to four, and both teams went scoreless for over two minutes until Todd Brown tipped in a bucket following Vaughn Duggins' three-point miss to cut UIC's advantage to two.
It was deja vu the next time down the floor as a driving Duggins found Brown in the right corner for a go-ahead three-pointer with 58 seconds on the game clock. A last second three by Brown in the right corner on a pass from Duggins was the same play that helped the Raiders pull out a one-point win over the Flames in Chicago on Jan. 17.
The Flames regained the lead after Scott VanderMeer put back a missed runner in the lane by Mayo with 19 seconds to go.
As the clock ran down Land drove baseline and ran into VanderMeer, who was whistled for a foul that sent Land to the charity stripe for a pair. The Raider freshman calmly swished in both from the line to put Wright State up 52-51.
After a Wright State timeout, Brown deflected the ball away from Mayo after he received the inbounds pass. The UIC guard regained possession and then heaved a desperation attempt from three-quarters court that looked on line but bounced off the top of the rim as time ran out.
VanderMeer scored 10 points for UIC, while Robert Bush pulled down seven rebounds.
Tori Boyd came off the bench to grab six boards, and Spencer Stewart handed out six assists for the third consecutive game.
Mayo went 4-for-4 from downtown in the second stanza.
UIC returns home to host No. 9 Butler at the UIC Pavilion this Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. The game is Fifth Third Bank "Pack The Pavilion" Night, with upper level tickets available for $2 each and free tickets available at over 30 Fifth Third Bank branches. Great lower level seats are also available for $15.
Wednesday's game will also feature Senior Night, as UIC honors Robert Bush, Karl White Jr., Jermaine Dailey and Ebenezer Noonoo prior to tip-off.
