CHICAGO – UIC mounted a strong second-half comeback for the second game in a row to take the lead away from the Loyola Chicago Ramblers Saturday afternoon, but the latter forced overtime with a late 3-pointer and worked its way past the Flames, 81-75.
 
UIC outscored Loyola, 36-28, in the second half while holding the Ramblers to a mark of 37 percent (10-of-27) from the field. The Flames made 54.5 percent of their shots in the second half, but they shot just 42.1 percent from the free throw, allowing Loyola to hang close.
 
The Ramblers trailed by three points with less than three seconds to play. Loyola's Donte Ingram took the pass a buried a deep 3-pointer with UIC's K.J. Santos in his face to send the game into overtime with the scored tied, 68-68.
 
Marcus Ottey connected on his only 3-point attempt of the ballgame with 90 seconds remaining in the extra session to tie the score once again, this time at 73, but Loyola outscored the Flames 9-2 down the stretch to secure its 10^th win of the season.
 
How It Happened

• Loyola led UIC by eight at halftime, but as he did in the first half, Santos started the scoring with a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to five. He rang another one home less than 90 seconds into the half that took it down to a two-possession game.
• The Ramblers pushed their lead back to six points before Ottey's steal and subsequent layup knotted the affair at 48 points apiece with 13:48 to go. Just over one minute later, Tarkus Ferguson glided past the defense for an easy basket at the rim that gave the Flames a 50-48 lead, their first since the first possession of the afternoon.
• Later the score was knotted at 58-58 when UIC went on a 7-2 run that featured five points from Godwin Boahen and a pair from Ferguson. The surge gave the Flames a 65-59 advantage, their largest of the game, with 3:31 left.
• The visitors outscored the home team 9-3 the rest of the way, culminating with Ingram's 3-pointer with one second left in regulation. The Flames made only three of eight free-throw attempts that they took during that span.
• Earlier, Santos started the scoring Saturday when he sank a 3-pointer from the right wing on UIC's first possession of the day. The score was soon knotted at 5-5 before Loyola went on a nine-point run to take a 14-5 lead with just over six minutes gone by.
• A 3-pointer from the right corner from UIC's Kyle Guice chopped the deficit down to four points at the 9:16 mark, but Loyola responded and grew its lead up to a half-high 13 points with 3:49 remaining in the half when Milton Doyle scored inside.
• The Flames responded by going on a 10-2 run of their own that was started when Santos scored from beyond the arc for a second time. It was capped when Godwin Boahen buried a triple from the top of the key to cut the deficit down to five points with 1:50 left in the period.
• Loyola's Aundre Jackson scored the final three points of the half to give the Ramblers a 40-32 advantage at the break. The visitors shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field over the first 20 minutes and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from beyond the arc.

Beyond The Box Score

• Boahen and Santos each erupted for personal-best performances in the scoring column Saturday. Santos, who reentered the starting lineup for the first time since Nov. 26, scored 14 points on 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. He also finished with a career-high nine rebounds in 33 minutes. Boahen notched 19 points with three 3-pointers of his own. Twelve of his 19 points came in the second half and overtime.
• Tai Odiase logged his first double-double of the season behind 10 points and 10 rebounds. It is the third eighth such effort of his career and the second by a UIC player this season (Dikembe Dixson: 32 points, 10 rebounds vs. Elon on Nov. 23).
• Lance Whitaker played a season-high 14 minutes for the Flames, all in the second half and overtime, in his third game back in the rotation after not playing in seven straight games.
• The Flames shot 50 percent (9-of-18) or better from beyond the 3-point line for the second time this season (60 percent at Grand Canyon on Dec. 10).
• Kyle Guice went to the free throw line for the first time this season against the Ramblers, doing so five times. He made three of his five attempts.
• UIC's Clint Robinson owned the glass early. At the first timeout of the game with 4:48 gone by, the Montego Bay, Jamaica, native had five rebounds to Loyola's four as a team.
• The Flames dominated the glass to the tune of 47-32. Saturday's game was only the second this season that UIC was on the wrong end of the final score after winning the rebounding battle.
• UIC's bench outscored Loyola's reserves, 18-4. Ottey led all players off the bench with 10 points. He also matched a season high with three assists.
• The Flames had five players score in double figures for the second time this season (also Nov. 19 vs. Trinity Christian). Only two players who accomplished the feat against the Ramblers - Odiase and Ottey – did so on both occasions.
• UIC is 3-3 against in-state foes this season and 2-1 against Chicago-based schools.

What's Next?

• UIC will continue its six-game homestand on Tuesday, Dec. 20, when it welcomes Northern Arizona to the UIC Pavilion for the first time in program history. The game will tip off at 7 p.m.
• NAU won the only previous meeting between the two programs which took place on Dec. 29, 1984, 63-54.
• The Lumberjacks are 2-9 on the season heading into a game at UTEP Saturday night.
• The Flames will also host local rival Roosevelt on Thursday, Dec. 22, to close nonconference play.