UIC turns it up on Cleveland St.

DEFENSE GETS FLAMES GOING

(1/16/05)

UIC was in a battle with Cleveland State for a half Saturday night at the Pavilion – and then the Flames got serious.

The Flames came out with a trapping defense to start the second half and it led to a 15-2 run to boost UIC to a 74-57 victory over the visiting Vikings in Horizon League play.

UIC (8-7, 3-2) forced five turnovers in the first five minutes of the second half in the run, which included five points apiece from Armond Williams (pictured) and Jovan Stefanov, breaking a 29-29 halftime tie.

”It was our defense that picked it up for us,” UIC coach Jimmy Collins said. “We had a very spirited halftime talk and they came out and executed.”

The second-half opening spurt put the Flames ahead 44-31 and the Vikings (4-9, 1-4) never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Good defense led to a balanced offensive attack as the Flames shot 60 percent after halftime.

All five of UIC’s starters scored in double figures – in fact, no one off the bench scored a point.

Williams (pictured) led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Elliott Poole contributed a double-double of 16 points (including 8-of-8 free throws) and a career-best 12 rebounds and Cedrick Banks pitched in 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals of his own.

Stefanov had 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and Rocky Collum scored a career-high 11 points with four assists.

Stefanov and Williams also had four steals and Poole contributed two of the Flames’ five blocked shots to bolster the defense, which allowed the Vikings to shoot just 39 percent for the game, including 33 percent in the second half.

The Flames kept Cleveland State’s star player, 6-foot-7 senior forward Omari Westley, in check for most of the night. Four days after scorching Wisconsin-Green Bay for a career-best 38 points, Westley had just 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

“Westley’s a good play and he’s got a lot of tools,” Williams said. “I normally try to deny guys like him the ball. I was out of focus in the first half, but Coach inspired us at halftime, and we didn’t let him get the ball as much.

“We just had to keep working, change up our defense. We just play good team defense in the second half.”

Raheem Moss added 14 points, including four three-pointers, for Cleveland State.

UIC used a 9-0 spurt, capped by Stefanov’s three-pointer, to open up a 14-7 lead, but the Vikings fought back. Mike Redell’s three-pointer put Cleveland State up 23-21 with 6:58 left in the opening half. The game see-sawed until Williams’ layup with 14.2 seconds left closed the half.

The Vikings stayed close because they shot 46 percent and forced eight UIC turnovers, while limiting the Flames to 39 percent shooting in the first half.

“They’re much better than they were last year,” Collins said. “They forced us into making some mistakes, which was evidenced by Cedrick’s five turnovers in the first half. I think we were able to regroup and pull ourselves together.”