VALPARAISO, IND. – The UIC men's basketball team closed out it's two game road trip Tuesday night, as it traveled to nearby northwest Indiana to take on Valparaiso.  In a back-and-forth contest that would go right down to the wire, the Flames would fall just short of the Beacons by a final score of 76-66.
 
FIRST HALF

• Toby Okani kicked the scoring off for the Flames, making his first shot from the field, and adding a pair of free throws to draw UIC within one point at 5-4.
• The Flames struggled from behind the arc to start the game, going 0 for their first four before Tre Anderson made the first UIC three pointer at the 12:39 mark.
• UIC forced four turnovers prior to the 12-minute mark of the half, but only managed to convert those four turnovers into two points.
• The Flames went on an 8-0 run in the middle section of the first half, cutting the Beacons lead as low as two points.
• Toby Okani scored 12 of UIC's first 27 points in the first half, his 14^th game this season scoring in double figures.
• UIC would enter the locker room trailing 36-33.

 
SECOND HALF

• Tre Anderson would also make the first three point basket of the second half for UIC, this time only waiting 1:55 into the half to pull the Flames to within four.
• The two teams would trade punches for the middle portion of the second half, with the Valparaiso lead floating around the four point margin until the 10:30 mark.
• Okani added five more points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, bringing him just two points shy of his career-high of 21 with 19.
• The Flames held the Beacons scoreless for a five-minute period leading to the 6:54 mark of the second half, allowing them to bring the game back even at 51-51.
• Okani would go on to set a new career-high in the contest, netting 29 points and earning his fourth double-double of the year, adding 11 rebounds.
• The Beacons would salt away the remainder of the game from the line, going 11 of 12 from the charity stripe in the second half.

 
UP NEXT
The Flames will return home for the first time since Jan. 10 this weekend, as they are set to host Northern Iowa Saturday afternoon at Credit Union 1 Arena. Tip-off on ESPN+ is set for 1:00 p.m., and you can hear all the action on the Flames Network with Jonathan Hood and Kenny Williams.