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UIC Athletics

thevalley
Mark Wagner
77
Winner UIC UIC 6-4,0-1 MVC
69
Little Rock LR 6-5,0-0 OVC
Winner
UIC UIC
6-4,0-1 MVC
77
Final
69
Little Rock LR
6-5,0-0 OVC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
UIC UIC 30 34 13 77
Little Rock LR 32 32 5 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Sensational Comeback Sparks Men's Basketball To 77-69 Overtime Win at Little Rock

Flames rally from seven down in final 30 seconds of regulation and capture second consecutive OT victory.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Dec. 15, 2024) — Trailing by 10 points with 2:48 left and seven points with 30 seconds remaining, UIC dug deep for one of the more remarkable rallies in program history, forcing overtime on three free throws by junior guard Javon Jackson (Houston, Texas/C.E. King/Southern Nazarene/Utah State) with :00.2 (two-tenths of a second) left in regulation before storming past Little Rock in the extra session for a 77-69 victory at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark. It was the Flames' second consecutive overtime win, the first time UIC has pulled off that feat in nearly two decades.

Jackson played a massive role in the comeback, scoring seven of his 13 points in the final 30 seconds of regulation to propel his squad into bonus basketball. Sophomore forward Sasa Ciani (Nova Gorica, Slovenia/Koder School) posted his MVC-leading fourth double-double of the season with a team-best (and career high-tying) 15 points and 10 rebounds, while senior forward Filip Skobalj (Belgrade, Serbia/Don Bosco-Schule Rostock) also poured in 15 points on a season-high 5-of-11 three-pointers, including a clutch triple to beat the shot clock buzzer with 2:45 to go in OT that put UIC ahead for good. Redshirt senior forward Modestas Kancleris (Kaunas, Lithuania/Varpas Gimnazija/Creighton/Cal State Bakersfield) was a force on the glass for the second consecutive game, tying his career high with a game-best 13 rebounds.

The full box score and play-by-play recap from Sunday's win at Little Rock can be found here.


COACH'S COMMENTS


SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
 
 
 



BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
  • UIC posted back-to-back overtime wins for the first time since Feb. 22-25, 2006, when the Flames won in OT at Cleveland State, 72-67, followed by a 69-66 home OT win over Wright State.
  • This marked the first time UIC played consecutive overtime games since Nov. 12-15, 2018, when the Flames lost at Duquesne, 89-88, then defeat William & Mary at home, 100-95. Both games were contested as part of the Gotham Classic tournament.
  • UIC grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, its highest total on the offensive glass since Jan. 8, 2017, when the Flames had 24 offensive boards in a 58-57 loss to Oakland at Credit Union 1 Arena.
  • Ciani registered double-digit rebounds for the third consecutive game and fourth time in his last five outings, while also notching his fourth double-double of the year (the first of his career). In addition, Ciani set career highs for field goals made and attempted (7-of-12) and tied his career high for points (also 15, twice before this season at Northwestern on Nov. 12 and vs. James Madison in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Nov. 21) and blocks (also two vs. Saint Mary's (Calif.) on Nov. 19, 2023, when he was playing for Xavier).  
  • Skobalj tied his career high with 11 three-point attempts, while finishing one off his career high for three-pointers made (six in a triple-OT loss to Drake on Feb. 28, 2024, at Credit Union 1 Arena).
  • Jackson made a career-high seven free throws and tied his career high for the fourth time with eight free throw attempts.
  • Kancleris tallied a career-high 13 rebounds for the second game in a row and third time in his career (also vs. Cal Poly on Jan. 20, 2024, when he was playing for Cal State Bakersfield).
  • Junior guard Jordan Mason (San Antonio, Texas/Clark/Texas State) grabbed a career-high eight rebounds.
  • The Flames are 2-0 all-time against Little Rock (Sunday was UIC's first-ever visit to the state of Arkansas) and are 48-52 all-time against the current Ohio Valley Conference alignment.

UP NEXT
UIC continues its three-game road trip on Friday, when it makes the program's first-ever visit to Seattle for a matchup with the defending CBI champion Redhawks. Tipoff from the Redhawk Center in the Emerald City is slated for 4 p.m. CT (2 p.m. PT) and the game will be televised live on ESPN+ (once more, due to a scheduling conflict, there will not be a live Flames Network broadcast),  

FOLLOW THE FLAMES
For more information on UIC men's basketball, 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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