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Flames find a little ‘Epp’ in their step EPPINGER’S CAREER NIGHT BOOSTS UIC OVER YSU March 4, 2009
After weeks of alternating solid efforts with inconsistent play, junior forward Rob Eppinger continued his upswing. snagging career bests with 20 points and 14 rebounds as the Flames pulled out a 73-68 victory at Youngstown State in the first round of the Horizon League tournament. The new-and-improved Eppinger topped his 16-point game at Loyola from last Friday with a clutch putback and free throw with 27.1 seconds left, giving No. 7 seed UIC (16-14) a two-possession lead at 69-65. “I’ve been listening a lot, doing more of the things I need to do” Eppinger said. “I’m letting the game come to me. I just went to the boards strong, crashing them like Coach [Tracy] Dildy and Coach [Bryant] Lowe say.” With the game in the balance, senior guard Josh Mayo tried a floater in the lane, which missed, but Eppinger swooped around Sirlester Martin for the offensive rebound and basket. Martin fouled Eppinger, resulting in a critical three-point play. After a Penguins miss, Mayo hit two free throws for a six-point advantage. Then, Tom Parks drained a three from the corner to cut the deficit to 71-68 with 6.2 seconds remaining. Needing to foul to extend the game, Zach Rebillot fouled Eppinger before the inbounds pass. YSU’s gamble failed as Eppinger calmly sank both free throws for the final margin. “I was kind of upset when they fouled me, like I was Shaq or something,” Eppinger said. “I just went up there with confidence. I knew I was going to knock them down.” Eppinger finished 7-for-13 from the field and 6-for-6 from the foul line while record two blocked shots. The Flames flirted with disaster as a 15-point, first-half lead slowly disappeared in the second period. The Penguins (11-19) finally started to heat up after Eppinger’s tip-in gave UIC a 58-54 advantage with 6:57 to play. Parks nailed a three on YSU’s next possession to cut the deficit to 58-57. Vytas Sulskis scored on a putback with 5:39 to go, giving the Penguins their first lead of the game at 59-58. Kelvin Bright canned a three for a 62-58 lead with 4:38 left and UIC coach Jimmy Collins called for a timeout. Eppinger hit two free throws to pull UIC within two points. After Sulskis was called for an offensive foul for pushing off on Tori Boyd, Mayo hit a floater to tie the game at 62-62 with 3:26 to go. Scott VanderMeer and Boyd then each hit a pair of free throws as the Flames capped an 8-0 spurt for a four-point lead with 1:58 remaining. Sulskis, who scored a game-high 20 points for the No. 6 seed Penguins, hit a three from the corner to cut the deficit to 66-65 with 57.8 seconds left, leading to Eppinger’s last-minute heroics. Sophomores Robo Kreps and Boyd each scored 15 points and Mayo contributed 14 points and a team-high six assists for the Flames, who have won six of seven, going into Friday night’s second-round game with Cleveland State. “We need to maintain our new attitude,” Collins said. “Guys are now getting what we’re trying to do. They’re doing what they’re being called upon to do. We could have folded completely, but we hung in and we didn’t crumble.” The Flames’ victory avenges a regular-season sweep at the hands of YSU and snaps a three-game losing streak at the Beeghly Center. UIC came out hot in the first half, using a 16-3 burst to open up a 28-13 lead. Mayo’s three-pointer kick-started the run with 13:31 left in the half and Eppinger added a three-point play to keep it going. Boyd nailed back-to-back threes to boost the advantage into double digits and Jeremy Buttell knocked down a triple with the shot clock running down to cap the run. The Flames took a 35-25 lead into the locker room, but YSU got back into the game quickly. The Penguins used a 15-4 run to close the gap to 40-39 on DeAndre Mays’ layup with 16:49 remaining. The score remained close for the rest of the game with neither team holding more than a seven-point lead thereafter. UIC knows it’s on a mission to get seniors Mayo and Scott VanderMeer, who had 11 rebounds, into the NCAA tournament. “We knew if we lose, it’s over,” Eppinger said. “We have two great seniors and we want to do whatever it takes for them to get a ring.” FLAMES FLICKERS: Buttell returned from a sore left knee to play 17 minutes off the bench to post three points and three rebounds. … UIC is the only team in the Horizon to have at least one win in each of the last eight league tournaments. The Flames became just the fourth road team to win an opening round game since the Horizon went to the current tournament format in 2003. … UIC improved to 19-4 against YSU all-time and 3-0 in the Horizon tournament. HORIZON TOURNAMENT UPDATE: UIC advances to Friday’s second round in Indianapolis. The Flames will play No. 3 seed Cleveland State in game that will start at approximately 7 p.m. CSU is 21-10 overall after defeated No. 10 seed Detroit 56-43 on Tuesday night. Senior guard Cedric Jackson, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, had 16 points, six rebounds, eight assists and five steals. Senior forward J’Nathan Bullock tallied 15 points and 13 rebounds. The Vikings swept the Flames during the regular season, posting a 79-69 victory on Jan. 10 and a come-from-behind 66-63 win at UIC on Feb. 5. “The main thing we need to do is match their intensity and aggressiveness,” Collins said of Friday’s contest against CSU. “Skill-wise, we can bring it, but we need to play hard for 40 minutes.” The game will be broadcast on the Internet on the Horizon League Network. The radio broadcast is on WIND-AM 560 with Adam Levinson and Kenny Williams on the call. In other action, Scott Grote scored 19 points and Todd Brown added 16 as No. 4 seed Wright State eliminated Valparaiso 68-56. … James Eayrs had 20 points and nine rebounds as No. 5 Milwaukee ended Loyola’s season, 77-68. Jordan Hicks and J.R. Blount each had 20 points for the Ramblers. TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE/RESULTS TUESDAY, MARCH 3 FIRST ROUND #3 Cleveland State 56, #10 Detroit 43 #7 UIC 73, #6 Youngstown State 68 #4 Wright State 68, #9 Valparaiso 56 #5 Milwaukee 77, #8 Loyola 68 FRIDAY, MARCH 6 SECOND ROUND AT INDIANAPOLIS #5 Milwaukee (17-13, 11-7) vs. #4 Wright State (19-12, 12-6), 5 #7 UIC (16-14, 7-11) vs. #3 Cleveland State (21-10, 12-6), 7 SATURDAY, MARCH 7 SEMIFINALS AT INDIANAPOLIS WSU/Milwaukee at #1 Butler (25-4, 15-3), 6 CSU/UIC vs. #2 Green Bay (22-9, 13-5), 8 TUESDAY, MARCH 10 CHAMPIONSHIP at higher seed, 8 |
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