CHICAGO - Green Bay (19-11, 10-7) surrendered 54 second-half points to UIC (8-20, 3-14) Thursday night in a 78-71 loss to the Flames in Horizon League men's basketball action at the UIC Pavilion. Green Bay had given up just 59.8 points per game over its previous five games.
Green Bay enjoyed an eight-point lead at intermission, 32-24, and extended its lead to as many as 14 (40-26), after scoring eight of the first 10 points out of halftime, but the Flames stormed back.
Jeremy Buttell single-handedly led UIC back into the game by running off 10 consecutive points on 3-pointers, the last of which he converted into a four-point play. The Flames took their first lead with 10:31 remaining and the Phoenix went on top for the final time, 59-58, with 5:06 left.
From there it was all Robo Kreps for the Flames, who hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and scored 16 points over the final five minutes to salt the game away. He ended with a game-high 24 points.
Four Green Bay players reached double digits, led by Rahmon Fletcher (Kansas City, Mo.), who finished with 17, including 15 in the second half. Troy Cotton (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Bryquis Perine (Milwaukee, Wis.) totaled 15 and 13, respectively. Rian Pearson (Raytown, Mo.) collected 12 points and a career-best and team-high eight rebounds.
The Phoenix concludes its regular-season slate Saturday afternoon at Loyola. Game time is 3 p.m. Green Bay's seeding for the league's postseason tournament has not been decided yet, but the Phoenix will host a first-round game on Tuesday.
--GreenBayPhoenix.com--
