Five League Teams Collect Wins on Saturday

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 1)
UIC 50, Northwestern 44
Youngstown State 58, Bowling Green 49
Cleveland State 78, Toledo 73
Wright State 66, Morehead State 57
Loyola 77, Furman 50
Virginia 67, Green Bay 51
#rv/rv Pittsburgh 74, Detroit 61
Northern Iowa 72, Milwaukee 61

Five Horizon League teams posted wins on Saturday afternoon, as UIC, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, Wright State and Loyola all found the correct side of the ledger. Green Bay, Detroit and Milwaukee all fought tough in road defeats.

UIC 50, Northwestern 44
Despite shooting just 34.9 percent from the floor, UIC’s defense carried the Flames to a 50-44 win at Northwestern.

UIC (6-1) extended its winning streak to five games, moving to 6-1 for the first time since the 2003-04 season. Seniors Josh Crittle and Daniel Barnes combined for 23 points and 15 rebounds

The win marked UIC's fourth-straight triumph over Northwestern, dating back to the 2002-03 season. The Flames also improved to 2-0 versus Big Ten Conference foes under third-year head coach Howard Moore. UIC defeated in-state rival Illinois at the United Center, 57-54, on Dec. 18, 2010.

Crittle scored a team-high 13 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, while Barnes scored 10 points on four field goals, and corralled six boards.Hayden Humes and Gary Talton also chipped in with eight points each.

There were a combined 20 ties and lead changes in the game. UIC out-scored the Wildcats 24-20 in the paint, 14-4 off turnovers and 15-3 on second chance points. The Flames forced Northwestern into 16 turnovers and swiped nine total steals. UIC has now held five opponents under 35 percent shooting from the field, and four foes to less than 50 total points.

Eleven of the 20 ties and lead changes came in the first half, as Northwestern took a 26-25 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Flames broke an early 3-3 tie with an 8-4 run, claiming an 11-7 lead with 13:46 remaining. Crittle and Barnes each had field goals in the spurt. UIC held the lead for the ensuing 5:23, before Northwestern tied the game, 15-15, following a pair of converted free throws from Drew Crawford.

Kale Abrahamson hit a transition three with 5:27 left, giving Northwestern its first lead, 20-19, since the 15:54 mark of the first half. Talton hit two free throws on the other end, pushing UIC back ahead, 21-20. Crawford, Reggie Hearn and Abrahamson combined for six points down the stretch of the frame, making the score 26-25 at halftime.

UIC was forced into its first timeout with 16:21 remaining in the second half, after Northwestern claimed its largest lead, 32-27. Barnes hit a three out of the timeout, pulling the deficit back within one possession, 32-30. Crittle then converted a conventional three-point play to push the Flames back in front, 33-32, with 14:02 left.

Marc Brown, who drew the defensive assignment on Crawford, received a pass from Crittle with 8:09 remaining, scored the basket and drew the foul on Crawford to help the Flames build a three-point lead, 38-35. UIC held the lead until the 4:18 mark, when Crawford drilled a three to give the Wildcats their final lead, 42-40. The Flames outscored the Wildcats 10-2 down the stretch to secure their second-straight road win. Crittle and Humes combined to go 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 29 seconds.

Youngstown State 58, Bowling Green 49
Youngstown State used a stellar defensive performance and held off a late rally to knock off Bowling Green, 58-49, at the Stroh Center.

Damian Eargle led Youngstown State (4-4), posting his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 15 rebounds, including 14 on the defensive glass.

Blake Allen scored a team-high 15 points – 10 after halftime, including eight consecutive points early in the second half.

The Penguins' pressure defense forced the Falcons into a field-goal percentage of just 31 percent for the game, and outrebounded Bowling Green, 44-34.

YSU scored the first six points of the game and never trailed in the game. The closest Bowling Green would get was within one, 10-9, and 12-11, in the first half.

After shooting just 37 percent in the first half, the Penguins were more efficient from the field connecting on 52.6 percent from the floor. At one point, the Penguins made six of their first 11 field goal attempts in the second half.

Layups by Eargle and Kamren Belin extended YSU's six-point halftime edge to 10-point lead, 27-17, with 18:47 left.

After the Falcons trimmed the lead to six, 30-24, Allen ignited a 10-2 run with eight straight points, including a 3-pointer, a free throw and two jumpers, to give the Guins a 40-26 lead midway through the second half. DJ Cole’s 3-pointer capped the YSU surge.

Bowling Green Anthony Henderson hit a 3-pointer to get within 11, but Josh Choinacki’s layup and 3-pointer extended the Penguins advantage to a game-high 16-point advantage, 45-29, with 8:52 to go.

Over the next five minutes, Bowling Green used a 14-4 run of its own to get the deficit back down to six, 49-43, with just under four minutes remaining.

A jumper by Eargle and a free throw from Kendrick Perry pushed the YSU lead to back to nine, 52-43, with 2:31 to go.

The Penguins, who struggled from the free-throw making just 12-of-26, converted six of their last seven from the charity stripe to seal the victory.

Cleveland State 78, Toledo 73
Cleveland State led for just 31 seconds of game time, but made sure it was the right time, rallying past Toledo, 78-73, at the Wolstein Center.

Charlie Lee scored a career-high 22 points, all in the second half, to lead Cleveland State (6-2).

After a career-high 18 points on Wednesday, freshman Bryn Forbes scored 16 points. Tim Kamczyc added 15 points, while Sebastian Douglas scored 10 and added five steals.

After Rian Pearson hit a pair of free throws to give the Rockets a 71-69 lead with 2:15 left, the Vikings had a turnover, but Toledo could not extend the lead.

Instead, Douglas knocked away a pass and saved the ball from going out of bounds to Lee who pushed the ball up the court and found a cutting Douglas who converted a reverse layup to tie the game. After a CSU stop, Lee hit a three-pointer to give CSU its first lead of the contest with 31 seconds left.

Douglas then stole a pass at midcourt and took it the length of the court for a layup, extending the lead to five, 76-71, with 19 seconds left.

A CSU foul allowed Toledo to pull back within two, 76-73, with a pair of free throws, but Lee calmly sank two free tosses on the other end for the final margin.

The Vikings trailed at the half, 32-26, thanks in large part to Toledo shooting 52-percent from the floor and 11 Viking turnovers. It was the sixth time that CSU trailed at the half this year, but the fourth time the Vikings rallied to win.

A quick Toledo bucket to open the second half extended the lead to seven, 33-26, but CSU responded with a 13-6 run to tie the contest at 39-39 on a Forbes three-pointer.

Toledo would use a run midway through the half to regain a nine-point advantage, 56-47, with just under 10 minutes to play before the Vikings began to chip away again, capped with five straight stops on the defensive end in crunch time.

The Vikings shot 53-percent (27-51) for the game, highlighted by a 17-of-26 (.654) effort in the second half when they also had just five turnovers.

Wright State 66, Morehead State 57
Behind a career-high 29 points from Cole Darling, Wright State jumped out to an early lead and held off Morehead State in the second half for a 66-57 at the Nutter Center.

Wright State (5-2) came out on fire, jumping out to a 14-4 lead six minutes into the game thanks in part to Darling scoring the first seven points, on his way to 22 in the first half. Morehead State answered with five straight of its own and only trailed 21-15 following three Jarrett Stokes free throws at the 7:56 mark, but six more Darling points pushed the margin back up into double figures.

The lead was as much as 14 following another Darling three-pointer before the Eagles scored the final four points to make 37-27 at the half.

Wright State was 12-of-20 from the field, including five of seven on three-pointers, in the first half while MSU shot 56 percent and was three of six from behind the arc.

WSU led 48-26 on a Matt Vest three with 14:07 remaining, only to see Morehead State trim the deficit to 54-49 with 6:09 to play. However, baskets by Darling and Miles Dixon prevented the Eagles from getting any closer and the Raiders eventually extended the lead to 66-55 in the final seconds before a Kahlil Owens layup rounded out the scoring.

Both teams finished with impressive shooting numbers as Wright State shot 60 percent overall, 6-of-12 from three and 18-of-24 at the foul line while Morehead State hit for 50 percent, 5- of-13 from three.

Darling ended with a career-high 29 points, shattering his previous best of 21 last February 12 against Milwaukee.  The junior forward made each of his first eight shots, including three three-pointers, and was three for four at the line in scoring 22 of those points in the first half.

Vest was the only other Raider to score in double figures as he had 10.

Loyola 77, Furman 50
Loyola used a 20-0 run early in the second half to roll to a 77-50 victory over visiting Furman at Gentile Arena.

Loyola (6-2) won its fourth consecutive game, forcing the Paladins into 20 turnovers, while knocking down a season-high 11 three-point field goals. Last season, Loyola didn't collect its sixth win until February 11.

The Ramblers opened the game with a flourish, as six different players scored as part of a game-opening 14-2 blitz. Furman countered by closing out the half on a 25-15 run of its own to close within 29-27 at the half.

Jordan Hicks was a catalyst for Loyola, scoring 10 of his 12 points on the day in the opening 20 minutes. After starting the contest by hitting 5 of their first 8 shots from the field, the Ramblers connected on just 5 of their final 24 to close the period.

Stephen Croone opened the second half by converting a layup off a Loyola turnover to even the score at 29, but Ben Averkamp’s jumper at the 19:19 mark of the period began a string of 20 answered points for the Ramblers as they seized control with a 49-29 lead and never looked back.

Averkamp scored six of his 10 points during that decisive stretch and back-to-back three-pointers by Devon Turk and Matt O’Leary were followed by a Nick Osborne dunk off a feed from Joe Crisman to cap the run.

The first of three consecutive three-pointers by Turk gave Loyola is largest lead of the day, at 62-34 with 7:55 remaining, and Furman would get no closer than 19 the remainder of the way.

Turk led Loyola with a career-high 19 points, hitting 5 of 7 shots from beyond the arc and is now shooting 50 percent (15-for-30) from three-point range this season.

Hicks added 12 points as he reached double digits for the second straight game, while Averkamp shook off a slow start to finish with 10 points and seven rebounds in only 25 minutes. Cully Payne matched a career high with nine assists and 10 of the 11 Ramblers to see action in the game scored.

Loyola limited Furman to just 36-percent shooting from the field, as the Paladins were 19-for-53 for the game.

Virginia 67, Green Bay 51
Trailing by just four at the half, Green Bay surrendered a 17-2 run midway through the second half en route to a 67-51 defeat to Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena.

Alec Brown overcame foul trouble to lead Green Bay with 14 points, while Kiefer Sykes added 12 points. However, Green Bay (3-4) could not overcome 20 points each from Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell and 60-percent shooting from the Cavaliers in the second half.

In a half in which neither team led by more than five points, Green Bay led 27-26 with 2:02 remaining before halftime after a pair of free throws from Brennan Cougill. Virginia got a three from Harris on the next possession and led 31-27 at intermission.

The Cavaliers scored the first five points of the second half, but six-straight points from Sykes and a three-point play by Kam Cerroni cut the margin to 40-36 with 15:27 to play. Virginia responded with the 17-2 run to extend to its biggest lead of the night and the Phoenix could get no closer than 12 the rest of the way.

Brown picked up his fourth foul during the run and went to the bench. The 7-foot-1 junior scored 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field, including a career-best two three-pointers. Sykes finished with 13 points with three assists and three steals.

#rv/rv Pittsburgh 74, Detroit 61
Leading by eight points at the half, Detroit was outscored, 45-24, in the second half as Pittsburgh rallied for a 74-61 win over the visiting Titans.

Detroit (2-4) was led by Ray McCallum’s game-high 24 points, but the Titans allowed Pitt to shoot 14-of-22 in the second half. In that same span, Detroit was just 9-of-28 from the floor and 3-for-12 from three-point range.

McCallum shot 7-for-13 from the field to record his fifth 20-point performance the season in six games; the 24-point effort was his 19^th 20-plus point game of his career. The junior grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Evan Bruinsma scored a season-high 14 points, with six rebounds, while Jason Calliste pitched in 12 points and three assists.

After controlling the opening tip, Pitt took an early, 8-0, before the Titans responded with a 25-4 run to build a 25-12 lead with lead 7:14 left. The Panthers then answered back with a 14-4 run to trim Detroit’s lead to, 29-26, with 3:29 remaining. The Titans then closed the half with an 8-3 run to take a 37-29 lead into the locker room. McCallum led Detroit with 17 points and five rebounds in the first half, while Calliste pitched 10 points and two boards.

With 8:29 left in the game, a Ugochukwu Njoku layup tied the game at 49, but the Titans would endure a three-minute scoring drought, allowing Pittsburgh to open an eight-point lead and take control of the game.

Northern Iowa 72, Milwaukee 61
Paris Gulley returned to the Milwaukee lineup, but his contributions went for naught as Northern Iowa took control midway through the second half to post a 72-61 victory over the visiting Panthers.

Milwaukee (2-5) trailed, 32-29, at the half, but immediately tied the game on a three from Kyle Kelm. Northern Iowa would retake a 36-34 lead, but a 7-0 spurt was started on a Gulley jumper; Austin Arians capped the run with a transition three to put the Panthers up, 41-36 with 15:03 to play.

Northern Iowa, however, would move back ahead on two free throws with 12:25 to play, stretching the lead to 10, 58-48, with 7:01 remaining.

In his first game back since injuring his hand shortly before the start of the season, Gulley went 10-for-18 from the floor, but outside of Gulley and Kelm, Milwaukee was just 8-for-30 from the field.

Kelm finished with 16 points, while Jordan Aaron added 10.