Carr drives stake through Loyola’s heart

(2/28/03)

When UIC and Loyola get together, one can always expect a flair for the dramatic.

The dramatic moment came from a Public League player, but not from one of the usual Westinghouse High School suspects.

Junior swingman Aaron Carr (pictured), from Lincoln Park, drilled a three-pointer from 25 feet away on the right wing on an assist from Cedrick Banks at the buzzer as the visiting Flames edged Loyola 66-65 at the Gentile Center in front 5,392 fans Thursday night.

“I was hollering [for the ball] real loud,” said Carr, who finished with nine points. “Gimme the ball, I’m open.”

The Flames (19-7, 11-4 in the Horizon League) had just 3.8 seconds to advance the ball three-quarters of the court after Loyola’s Corey Minnifield split a pair of free throws to give the Ramblers a 65-63 lead. Martell Bailey triggered the inbounds pass to Banks, who escaped a trap in the backcourt, dribbled to halfcourt and made a jump pass to Carr, who turned and fired with time ticking away.

“I was bringing the ball up, and they were closing in on me,” Banks said. “So I looked for another shooter. I jumped in the air—and they thought I was going to shoot.”

“It was Ced’s best assist of the year,” added Carr, with the understatement of the year.

After the shot swished through the net, the Flame bench and some of the UIC fans that made the trip mobbed the floor, wrapping up a wild final 30 seconds and leaving the Loyola student section in a stunned silence.

“Aaron shoots that shot in practice all the time,” UIC coach Jimmy Collins said. “He’s a very good catch-and-shoot player.”

Loyola (14-15, 9-7) trailed 63-62 when Kevin Clancy missed a three-point shot just under 30 seconds left. Carr tied up a Loyola player in the ensuing scrum and UIC was awarded possession.

But, Clancy intercepted a bad pass from Jonathan Schneiderman, leading to a Paul McMillan layup on a nifty assist from David Bailey with 15.2 seconds left.

The Flames came back down the floor, looking for the lead, but Martell Bailey’s runner in traffic missed and Carr fouled Minnifield with 3.8 seconds left in the game.

“I really don’t look forward to playing Loyola,” said an exhausted Collins. “I knew it was going to be a hard-fought basketball game. We beat a great basketball team.”

The Flames won the game from the three-point arc—and not just at the very end. UIC shot 10-of-19 from long distance, while Loyola was just 4-of-18.

The game was back-and-forth in the first half with neither team leading by more than five points. The first half ended tied at 35-35 after UIC’s Jabari Harris made a free throw with 34.1 seconds left.

Minnifield made two free throws to start the second half to put the Ramblers ahead 37-35, but UIC scored the next nine points, including a layup and a three-pointer by Carr.

The Flames led for most of the second half before McMillan’s layup in the final seconds.

Banks scored 17 points to lead the Flames, who clinched third place in the Horizon. Martell Bailey added 13 points and eight assists, while Armond Williams contributed 11 points, Schneiderman had 10 points, and Kyle Kickert snared a career-high 13 rebounds.

David Bailey’s 21 points and seven assists led Loyola with Minnifield adding 18 points and McMillan putting in 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

“This was just a tough way to lose a game,” Loyola coach Larry Farmer said. “My heart goes out to the kids. They really battled. We have to regroup ourselves, because this is the time of season where we can play ourselves into the tournament.”

UP NEXT: UIC closes the regular season with Youngstown State at the Pavilion Saturday night. The game tips off at 6 p.m., but there will be no radio broadcast. Fox Sports will televise the game on tape delay at 9 p.m. after the Chicago Rush Arena Football game.