CHICAGO, Ill. (GreenBayPhoenix.com)
- Visiting Green Bay (11-11, 5-4 HL) rallied from down 12 points in the second
half, and when Alec Brown (Winona,
Minn.) drained a three-pointer with 1:41 to play Green Bay led 57-54, its first
lead since 3-0. However, the Phoenix rally was spoiled by UIC (14-8, 5-4 HL),
who scored the last six points and pulled out a 60-57 victory in Horizon League
men's basketball action.
Leading 28-26 at the break, UIC scored 14 of the first 18
points of the second half to increase its edge to 12 points (42-30) with 13:59
remaining.
Led by Chicago native Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.), the Phoenix scored the next nine
points to close to 42-39 with 10 minutes left. Sykes scored the last five
points of the spurt, capping it with his third three-pointer of the night.
UIC's Josh Crittle scored in the post on the next
possession, and the Phoenix missed a jumper by Carrington Love (Milwaukee, WIs.) on Green Bay's next trip gave the
Flames the ball with less than 30 seconds remaining. UIC got the ball into the
post to Crittle, who was blocked by freshman Jordan Fouse (Racine, Wis.) but a foul was whistled on senior Brennan Cougill (Sioux City, Iowa).
Crittle made both for a 1-point lead (58-57), and the Phoenix called timeout
with 11 seconds to play.
Sykes tried to split defenders and get in the lane from
the right wing, but UIC's Anthony Kelley poked the ball away with four seconds
left. Crittle was fouled and made both two more for the final margin.
On 6-of-10 shooting, Sykes scored a team-best 18 points
and added four assists, three of which came on passes for dunks from sophomore Greg Mays (Chicago, Ill.). Mays went
4-of-5 from the field and had 10 points and five rebounds.
Green Bay shot 48.8 percent from the field (21-43) but
was hurt by 16 turnovers that helped UIC take seven more shots (21-50). The
Phoenix went 10-of-12 from the foul line while the Flames made 12-of-16 free
throws.
The Phoenix will stay in Chicago and take on Loyola on
Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The contest is the Horizon League of the Week and
will be televised by Time Warner Cable's Sports32.
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