Dec. 2, 2010
Final Stats
Final Box in PDF Format 
CHICAGO - Senior forward Paul Carter scored a team-high 18 points to lead three Flames in double figures, but the UIC men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 68-66 decision in overtime against visiting Valparaiso at the UIC Pavilion Thursday night.
Carter's 18 points came on a 7-of-14 effort from the field; he was joined in double figures by senior forward Brad Birton (11 points) and junior guard Zavion Neely (10). The Flames (4-4, 0-1 Horizon) held a decisive 44-34 advantage on the boards, and built as large as a 14-point lead in the second half. Valpo (5-2, 1-0) out-scored UIC 18-6 over the final 8:40 of regulation, and held off a late rally in the extra session to improve to 1-0 in Horizon League play.
The Crusaders were led by preseason All-Horizon League selection Brandon Wood, who scored a game-high 19 points. Cory Johnson (15), Howard Little (12) and Ryan Broekhoff (10) also tallied double-digit scoring efforts.
"It was a situation tonight where Valparaiso showed its toughness near the end of the game, and I thought they got us back on our heels," said UIC head coach Howard Moore. "We stopped executing; they really got up into us, and were very physical. The momentum then shifted, and we didn't run our offense effectively after that. We stopped touching the post, which is what got us the big lead in the first place. You've got to give Valpo credit; they did a great job of attacking and going after our guards.
"I thought our defense was pretty solid tonight, we forced 20 turnovers, but the tough part about that was that we turned it over 20 times ourselves, including 14 in the second half. We've got to do a better job of denying, and taking care of the basketball."
The Flames took a 2-1 lead at the 18:36 mark of the first half, and never trailed again in the opening 20 minutes. After Carter's first three-pointer, UIC took a 12-5 lead at the 15:58 mark. That advantage was stretched to ten points (26:16) with 4:34 remaining, after a jumper by Neely capped off a 10-5 run. Another field goal by Neely with 49 seconds remaining in the first half gave the Flames their largest lead of the stanza, 36-22. At halftime, UIC led by a dozen, 36-24.
UIC's lead was quickly trimmed to six points (38-32) less than three minutes into the second half, after Valpo went on a quick 8-0 run. But the Flames went back up by ten, 47-37 (12:53) after KC Robbins' fourth field goal of the game. At the under-eight (7:43) media timeout, UIC held a commanding 58-44 lead, bolstered by back-to-back field goals from junior center Darrin Williams.
Valpo held the Flames without a field goal for the ensuing 2:56, but still trailed by a score of 62-52 with 4:47 remaining. UIC did not score for the remainder of regulation, as the Crusaders rolled off 10-straight points. Broekhoff completed the comeback with a three-pointer with 1:01 remaining. He then blocked senior guard Robo Kreps' potential game-winning three-point attempt with two seconds remaining in regulation, forcing overtime.
Valpo scored the first six points of overtime, taking a 68-62 lead with 3:42 remaining. Carter and Birton followed by combining on two-straight field goals to pull the Flames back within two (68-66) with 56 seconds left. After UIC forced Valpo's Erik Buggs into a turnover with 27 seconds remaining, the Flames had two chances to extend the game, or set-up for the potential game-winning shot. But Kreps collided with Valpo's defense in the paint, and lost the handle. UIC swarmed on top of the ball, forcing a tie-up, and re-gained possession with 4.4 seconds left.
Neely then drove the lane in an attempt to force double overtime, but his runner came up short, and despite Williams corralling the offensive rebound, the clock ran out.
UIC will complete its four-game homestand Saturday, when the Flames take on Akron, of the Mid-American Conference, at the UIC Pavilion beginning at 3 p.m. CST.
