Buzzards swoop in on Flames

UIC CAN’T HOLD 18-POINT LEAD IN MILWAUKEE

February 1, 2009

MILWAUKEE—The buzzards were circling the UIC Flames against Milwaukee in the final minute on Saturday night.

Whoosh! photo Milwaukee senior guard Deion James addresses the media after his game-winning three-pointer stunned UIC.

As free throws clanged off the iron and opposing three-pointers rained down, a seemingly insurmountable lead was suddenly going up in smoke.

The kill shot was delivered by Deion James, who swished a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the host Panthers a stunning 63-62 victory over UIC at U.S. Cellular Arena.

UIC guard Kris Harris missed all six of his free-throw attempts in the final minute as the Flames as a team missed nine of their final 12 charity tosses as Milwaukee rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final 1:27.

“We had a lot of chances to win it, but we’re a team right now with what you’d call buzzard luck,” UIC coach Jimmy Collins said. “It seems like we can’t kill nothing or find nothing dead and won’t nothing die. We just didn’t have the cards on our side.”

Milwaukee (14-8, 9-3) closed the game with a 12-1 run — all of its points coming on three-point baskets. When Harris missed his last free throw with 6.2 seconds left, Tony Meier rebounded the ball and passed it to Ricky Franklin, who rushed the ball up court. Franklin found James on the left wing, hit him with a pass and James took a quick sidestep from defender Tori Boyd and fired the dagger for his only three points of the game.

“The original plan was for Ricky to come up and make a play — he’s known for hitting a lot of clutch shots,” James said. “I just tried to run my lane and Rick just found me and it was history.”

In the first half, UIC took control with a 16-0 run started and finished by Scott VanderMeer. The Flames’ 7-foot center hit a short jumper to begin the spurt and capped it with a dunk for a 31-13 lead with 4:53 left in the first half.

UIC took a 35-21 advantage in the locker room, holding Milwaukee to just 30 percent shooting in the opening half.

“They were flying out on us with that zone,” said Milwaukee freshman Tony Meier, who had 17 points and 16 rebounds. “We weren’t shooting the ball with confidence at all. We weren’t getting stops on the other end. We had to work harder than them in the second half.”

The Panthers quickly closed the gap to six points, but UIC scored six straight points on two Robo Kreps layups and a Harris jumper to regain a 43-31 lead. Milwaukee wouldn’t cut the deficit to inside six points until the final minute of the game.

Harris hit a runner to put the Flames up 59-50 with 3:26 remaining and Jovan Ignjatovic hit a free throw with 1:27 left for a 61-51 advantage, but it was all downhill from there.

“I’m so proud that we were able to just hang in there,” Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter said. “It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to get it done. Guys just kept fighting, making the extra pass and trying to get into the paint to attack [UIC’s] zone.”

Whoosh! photo UIC sophomore Tori Boyd helped build an 18-point lead by scoring a career-best 23 points.

Despite a career-high 23 points from Tori Boyd, the Flames slipped to 10-11 overall and 3-8 in the Horizon League, losing their third straight. UIC was short-handed as both senior guard Josh Mayo (left ankle sprain) and junior point guard Spencer Stewart (right foot) did not play.

Boyd said he was not pressing or doing anything different than usual without Mayo and Stewart on the floor.

“I came out with the same mind-set that I have every night,” Boyd said. “I’m just going to play hard, focus on defense. It just happened that my shots were falling tonight.”

Kreps added 17 points and Harris chipped in 10 points and a team-best four assists. VanderMeer grabbed a season-high 16 points and Jeremy Buttell tied his career high with 11 boards.

Everything seemingly went right for UIC in its 7-2 start, while the opposite occurring during the Flames’ 3-9 tailspin.

“I guess that’s just the story of our season,” said Boyd, somewhat dispelling the bad luck notion. “It’s not due to anything except for what we do. We let down when we need to step up the most. The only way to work on that is to get tougher.”

TIGHTENING ROTATION: Only six players saw time for the Flames with starters Boyd, Harris, Kreps and Jeremy Buttell playing all 40 minutes of the game as Mayo and Stewart were unavailable.

VanderMeer played 35 minutes and Ignjatovic played for five minutes.

Junior forward Rob Eppinger, freshman forward Jelani Poston, junior guard Chris Buchanan and freshman guard Zavion Neely were all dressed and did not play.

Collins defended his approach after the game: “We got into a rhythm, we got into a roll and we had a lead. There were no disciplinary things, everybody’s OK.”

Even when legs appeared to be getting tired late, Collins said his ironmen were good to go.

“We questioned the guys during the timeouts, they were OK,” Collins said. “The shot that [James] hit at the end wasn’t due to our exhaustion; He hit a nice shot. We stepped up and missed free throws. We practice shooting free throws after we run hard. You should be able to relax and hit a free throw.”

Whoosh! photo Injured Flames Josh Mayo (left) and Spencer Stewart talk before the game.

MEDICAL REPORT: Before the game, Stewart said that he expects to get the boot removed from his right foot on Monday. He added that he should be able to play Thursday night against Cleveland State. Stewart missed his fifth straight game with a bruised navicular bone in his right foot. …

Mayo wore a blue warm-up suit during the game and sat alongside Stewart on the bench. Before the game, Mayo was in good spirits. He said that he aggravated an ankle that was giving him some nagging pain over the last few weeks. He likely will return on Thursday. …

Associate head coach Mark Coomes said that he had recent surgery to remove two cancerous growths from his face, which was what prompted him to wear bandages in recent games. Coomes said that surgeons were able to remove all of the cancer and were hopeful that won’t be a recurring problem.

FLAMES FLICKERS: Milwaukee made only 6 of its first 32 three-point attempts of the game, but amazingly hit its final five tries. … The Panthers outrebounded the Flames 53-42 overall and 21-11 on the offensive end. … UIC reached double figures in assists for the first time in four games. … VanderMeer blocked a season-high six shots. … Tone Boyle tied Meier for team-high honors with 17 points for Milwaukee. … Six-foot-7, 310-pound James Eayrs corralled 10 rebounds, but only had seven points and no threes after hitting five treys against UIC on Dec. 30. … The Panthers swept the regular-season series for the first time since the 2004-05 season.

UP NEXT: UIC returns to the Pavilion on Thursday night to take on Cleveland State. The game tips off at 7 p.m. with video coverage on the Horizon League Network. Audio coverage with the Flames’ voices, Adam Levinson and Kenny Williams, can be heard on uicflames.com.