Nov. 23, 2009

Box Score

CHICAGO - The UIC men's basketball team rallied from eight points down to Illinois State with 2:30 left in regulation to have a chance to tie the game, but the Flames' final shot came up short as the Redbirds escaped with a 69-65 win at the UIC Pavilion on Monday.

Zavion Neely led the Flames (1-2) with 17 points, followed by 15 points apiece from Jeremy Buttell and Robo Kreps.

Down by 67-59 with 2:30 to play, the Flames refused to give up. Buttell hit a three and was fouled in the process for an eventual four-point play, and Neely hit a jumper with 1:44 left got UIC to within two points.

Following a free throw by Dinma Odiakosa that put the Redbirds (3-0) up three with :39 on the clock, the Flames called their final timeout and set up a play to even the contest. But Kreps' attempt from downtown with nine seconds remaining bounced off the rim, and a foul and subsequent free throw by Illinois State's Lloyd Phillips iced the game for the visitors.

"I was very happy with the effort that the team gave," said head coach Jimmy Collins about his team's performance. "All coaches will tell you that it's extremely important to get better as you go. We did make some strides tonight in terms of getting better. The effort was certainly there."

UIC took control of the game early, building up a lead of as many as nine points on a jumper by Buttell with 9:35 to play in the opening frame.

That's when Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year Osiris Eldridge, a Chicago native who attended nearby Phillips Academy, took over. Eldridge scored 15 of his 17 first-half points in the period's final 8:53, going on an 8-0 run by himself at one point, and ended the half by nailing a tough fadeaway jumper with seven seconds left to put the Redbirds up by six heading into intermission.

Illinois State built their lead to as many as 10 points on two different occasions in the second half, and every time the Flames seemed to make a run, the Redbirds were able to counter until UIC's final burst.

UIC held Eldridge to just two points after halftime and limited the Redbirds to 33.3 percent (10-for-30) from the field in the second half after allowing the guests to shoot 48.3 percent (14-for-29) in the opening 20 minutes.

"Eldridge had 17 of his 19 points in the first half," noted Collins. "We really tightened up our defensive efforts in the second half and that kept us in the game."

Next up for the Flames is another in-state rival this Saturday night, Nov. 28, when they travel to Carbondale to face the Southern Illinois Salukis at 7 p.m.