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thevalley
Nathan Mcphee
79
George Washington GWU 5-1,0-0 Atlantic 10
89
Winner UIC UIC 5-1,0-0 MVC
George Washington GWU
5-1,0-0 Atlantic 10
79
Final
89
UIC UIC
5-1,0-0 MVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
George Washington GWU 37 42 79
UIC UIC 46 43 89

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Topples George Washington, 89-79 in Bahamas Semifinal

Flames advance to Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship title game against UNCG at 6 p.m. (CT) Sunday.

NASSAU, Bahamas (Nov. 25, 2023) – The UIC men's basketball team (5-1) led wire-to-wire in defeating previously-unbeaten George Washington, 89-79 in the semifinals of the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship on Saturday night at the Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas. The Flames will play for the tournament title at 6 p.m. (CT) Sunday against UNCG.
 
Senior guard and reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) scored a game-high 23 points to lead all five UIC starters who scored in double figures. Sophomore guard CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) added a career-high 22 points, seven assists and a career-best five rebounds for the Flames.
 
Along with Rivera and Jones, senior guard Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) dodged foul trouble to record 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds, junior forward Filip Skobalj (Belgrade, Serbia/Don Bosco-Schule Rostock) had 12 points and six rebounds, and junior guard Ethan Pickett (Pensacola, Fla./Cherokee/Triton) chipped in 10 points.
 
As a team, UIC shot 50.8 percent from the floor, including 40.6 percent from the three-point line. The Flames also tied their season low with 12 turnovers and knocked down 13 three-pointers, one off their season high.
 
COACH'S COMMENTS
"It's a testament to the character, the talent, the toughness and the resilience of the group," said head coach Luke Yaklich. "For us to lead from start to finish is tremendous. We weathered three or four of George Washington's best punches, we held our ground and in the last two minutes of the game, we finished it off. That's a really good win for the Flames and we're excited about the opportunity to compete for a championship (Sunday) night."


 
FIRST HALF
  • UIC came out strong, opening the game on an 8-2 run over the first 2:36, highlighted by three-pointers from Rivera and Skobalj.
  • George Washington twice got within a point, the second at 10-9 with 16:17 left in the half.
  • The Flames countered with a 15-2 run across a 2:43 span to open up a 25-11 lead on Skobalj's second triple at the 13:18 mark.
  • The Revolutionaries then came up with a 7-1 run of their own, getting to 26-18 with 10:16 to go in the period.
  • UIC got its lead back up to 11, but GW then trimmed the margin back to 41-35 just before the four-minute media timeout.
  • The Flames then got five big points on a Rivera trey and a steal and layup from Pickett before a late GW basket created UIC's 46-37 halftime lead.
  • Rivera led all scorers with 14 points (5-6 FG, 4-5 3FG) in the first half, while Skobalj added nine points (3-4 3FG).
 
SECOND HALF
  • UIC stormed from the gate, canning three consecutive three-pointers, including Jones' first two of the season, to rebuild a 55-40 lead 1:43 into the second half.
  • The Flames maintained their double-digit lead until nearly the midpoint of the period, but an 8-0 run by George Washington trimmed the UIC edge to 65-59 with 9:31 to play.
  • In what would be a recurring theme in the second half, the Flames drew a line in the sand with the six-point margin and would not let the Revolutionaries get any closer until the final minute.
  • UIC got its lead back up to double digits (72-62) on a driving layup by Rivera with 5:54 remaining.
  • GW wouldn't go quietly and eventually chipped the margin to 80-76 when Darren Buchanan Jr. hit a layup at the 1:49 mark.
  • Okani answered with a clutch bucket of his own 17 seconds later to spark the Flames' 9-3 game-ending run to ice the victory.

 
NOTES
  • UIC's 5-1 start continues to be its best since the 2012-13 season, when it opened 9-1.
  • The Flames advance to the championship game of an MTE (multi-team event) for the first time since Nov. 17-20, 2005, when UIC won its first two games at the BP Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, against Montana State (69-64) and San Diego State (66-63) before falling in overtime to Denver, 52-48 in the title contest.
  • UIC picks up its second win of the season against an Atlantic 10 opponent, having also defeated crosstown rival Loyola, 72-67 on Nov. 14 in Rogers Park.
  • UIC improves to 4-1 all-time against George Washington and has won the past two meetings with the Revolutionaries. Saturday was the first series matchup since the 2017 College Basketball Insider Tournament quarterfinals, when the Flames earned an 80-71 victory at Credit Union 1 Arena.
  • UIC knocked down double-digit three-pointers for the fourth time in the past five games — 10 vs. Little Rock on Nov. 10 and at Loyola on Nov. 14; 14 vs. Aurora on Nov. 19; 13 on Saturday vs. GW). The 13 triples were not only one off the Flames' season high, but one away from tying the most in the Yaklich era.
  • Saturday marked the second time this season UIC had two 20-point scorers in the same game (Rivera-23; Jones-22), having also done that at Loyola on Nov. 14 (Rivera-23; Okani-20).
  • Jones' 22 points erased his previous high of 15 points, which he had done twice before (most recently on Feb. 15, 2023, vs. Indiana State).
  • Jones' five rebounds tied his career high for the fourth time, something he last did on Nov. 14 at Loyola.
  • Jones' seven assists were one off his career high, set on Nov. 19 vs. Aurora. In his last four games, Jones is averaging 6.3 assists per game with a 3.57 assist/turnover ratio (25 assists, seven turnovers).
  • Rivera tied his career high with four three-pointers, a mark he first reached on Nov. 10 in a win over Little Rock at Credit Union 1 Arena.
  • Skobalj also matched his career high with four triples, the ninth time he has reached that total and first this season.
 
UP NEXT
UIC will take on UNCG in the title game of the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship at 6 p.m. (CT) Sunday at the Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas. The game (and all tournament contests) will be streamed live on FloSports with live stats available at UICFlames.com.
 
Tickets for all UIC basketball games can be purchased online through Ticketmaster and UICFlames.com/Tickets, as well as through the UIC Athletics Ticket Office (312-413-UIC1) or by visiting the Credit Union 1 Arena box office on game night.
 
For more information, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_MBB and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_mbb and @uicflames).
 
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