CHICAGO – UIC picked up the program's second postseason win Thursday night by defeating the Stony Brook Seawolves, 71-69, at the UIC Pavilion in the First Round of the 2017 CBI presented by FIVE FOUR.
 
The Flames (16-18) led by three at the half and extended their advantage to as many as 19 points in the second half. Stony Brook (18-14) mounted a furious comeback and pulled to within one possession on multiple occasions in the final minute, but UIC hung on for its first-ever triumph in the College Basketball Invitational.

Dominique Matthews scored a game-high 21 points with a career-high six 3-pointers. In total, five Flames scored at least eight points. Clint Robinson tallied 11 to go along with six rebounds off the bench, while Tarkus Ferguson flirted with a triple-double as he registered eight points, seven rebounds and a game-high 10 assists.

With the win, the Flames advance to the quarterfinals, where they will host George Washington (20-14) at the Pavilion on Monday, March 20 at 7 p.m. Tickets for Monday's game will go on sale Friday, March 17 at 10 a.m. To purchase, call 312-413-UIC1 (8421).
 
How It Happened

• The Flames used a late first-half run to grab a three-point lead at the break, but they really picked up steam in the early stages of the second half. UIC utilized a mammoth 19-2 run over the first 6:16 to pull ahead 54-36 with 13:44 remaining. Matthews and Robinson did a bulk of the heavy lifting offensively by combining to score 15 of the 19 points to start the half.
• Stony Brook then scored seven unanswered points to pull within 11 when UC Iroegbu netted two of his 11 points with 9:17 remaining. Robinson hauled in a rebound moments later and Godwin Boahen soon found Ferguson for a deep 3-pointer that sparked an 11-3 run for the Flames. Tai Odiase had five points during that particular burst, while Boahen hit the 3-pointer that gave UIC its largest lead of the night, 19 points, with five minutes left on the clock.
• The Seawolves turned up the pressure and started to score with regularity as they clawed to within six points with 58.2 seconds left. Stony Brook then forced a turnover and got a layup that made it a four-point game.
• After Matthews split a pair from the charity stripe, SBU's Michael Almonacy's layup turned it into a one-possession game with under 30 seconds to play. K.J. Santos toed the line for the Flames and drilled two crucial free throws to get back up by five with 27.1 left.
• Almonacy got another layup off an offensive rebounds before Boahen drew a foul with 8.9 seconds left. The freshman calmly sank both his free throw attempts to make it a four-point game. The Seawolves scored at the buzzer to denote the final margin.
• Earlier, UIC scored the first two points of the game, but Stony Brook came back to net six unanswered to grab a four-point lead with 2:54 gone by.
• The Flames trailed by seven with 11:50 to go in the half before Ferguson followed up his own miss to start a six-point surge for the Flames that had them back within a point when Santos converted an old fashion 3-point play less than a minute later.
• UIC could not quite get over the hump and the Seawolves owned a five-point lead with just over five minutes remaining. Matthews drilled 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give UIC a 29-28 lead with 3:46 left in the period.
• Ferguson found Marcus Ottey for a flying one-hander with 20 seconds left in the half to give UIC a 35-32 lead, its biggest advantage through the first 20 minutes.

 Beyond The Box Score

• UIC won a postseason tournament game for only the second time in program history. The first victory came on March 20, 2013, when the Flames defeated Chicago State, 80-69, in the opening round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
• The Flames are 2-5 all-time in postseason action, and 1-0 in two seasons under head coach Steve McClain.
• UIC has won 16 games for the first time since the 2012-13 season (18). It is only the third time since the 2009-09 campaign that the Flames have posted as many victories.
• Matthews became the 34^th player in UIC history to make at least six 3-pointers in a game. He is the second player to do so under McClain, joining Gabe Snider, who hit six two times last season.
• Matthews scored at least 20 points for the sixth time this season and the seventh in his career. The redshirt freshman is averaging 19.3 points per game over UIC's last three contests (2-1) and shooting 56 percent (19-of-34) during that span.
• UIC tallied at least 21 assists for the fifth time this season and the first since dropping 21 dimes on Feb. 4 at Milwaukee. On Thursday, Ferguson was one helper shy of his career high, which took place in that victory over the Panthers.
• Robinson is averaging 11 points and 6.5 rebounds off the bench in UIC's last two games. The junior matched a career high with three blocks against the Seawolves.

 What's Next?

• The Flames will host George Washington in the quarterfinals of the 2017 CBI presented by FIVE FOUR on Monday, March 20 at the UIC Pavilion. The game will tip at 7 p.m. CT.
• George Washington is 20-14 on the season as they picked up win No. 20 in the first round of the CBI on Wednesday when it beat Toledo, 73-69.
• UIC is 2-1 all-time against the Colonials, however all three of those meetings were prior to the Division I era.
• Tickets to Monday's game will go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. CT. Please call the UIC Ticket Office at 312-413-UIC1 (8421) to purchase.