#HLMBB First Round (Tuesday, March 3)
(5) Detroit 77, (8) Youngstown State 67
(6) UIC 60, (7) Wright State 57
(5) Detroit 77, (8) Youngstown State 67
Chris Jenkins scored a career-high 21 points and the fifth-seeded University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team closed the game on a 18-4 run as the Titans earned a 77-67 victory over No. 8 seed Youngstown State in the first round of the Horizon League Championships at historic Calihan Hall.
The Titans (15-17) earned their third-straight win and third over the Penguins this season. Detroit advances to the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Championships and will play No. 4 seed Cleveland State in Valparaiso, Ind. at 9:30 p.m. ET Friday.
Juwan Howard Jr. added 20 points and Paris Bass tallied 11 points and three blocks for the Titans.
Detroit didn't earn its first lead of the game until the 3:21 mark of the second half when Jenkin's hit a pair of free throws. Detroit scored the next 10 points following Jenkin's two from charity stripe. Jarod Williams gave the Titans a seven-point lead, 72-65, with 1:50 remaining after converting on a triple from the top of the key.
Bass and Howard combined to go 5-for-5 on free throws on the next two possessions to give Detroit a double-digit advantage and put the game away.
The Penguins (11-21) opened the game with a 15-6 run, before Detroit used a 13-4 run capped off by three-straight triples from Carlton Brundidge, Matthew Grant and Bass to tie the score at 19 with 9:29 left. But YSU would close the half with a 18-12 run to take a 37-31 lead into the locker room.
The Penguins would lead by as much as eight in the second half and held on to the lead until Jenkins made a pair of free throws with 3:21 remaining.
Detroit led in bench scoring, 54-9, and sank 17-of-22 free throws during the game. Detroit had just 10 turnovers, compared with 14 turnovers for YSU. The Titans shot 47 percent overall - 58 percent in the second half - while the Penguins finished shooting 49 percent overall, but just 20 percent from downtown.
(6) UIC 60, (7) Wright State 57
– The UIC men’s basketball team (9-23) erased a 19-point halftime deficit and completed an improbable second half comeback against seventh-seeded Wright State (11-20) at home on Tuesday night to pull off the 60-57 victory and advance to the second round of the 2015 Horizon League Tournament. The sixth-seeded Flames outscored WSU, 40-18, in the final period and ended the game on a 14-2 run.
Senior Jay Harris sank a game-winning three-pointer with 1:13 left to play and finished the night with a game-high 23 points. Harris also hit two free throws with six seconds remaining to put UIC ahead by three points. The Aurora, Ill. native is now UIC’s all-time single-season leader in made foul shots with 152.
“We were due,” said head coach Howard Moore. “We have been in the fight all season long and these guys just kept battling. I challenged them at halftime to look inside themselves and find a way to get this done. Our defense in the second half was tremendous and tonight we wanted it more.”
The Flames’ defense forced 10 WSU turnovers in the second half and converted those miscues into 21 points. UIC held the Raiders to a mere seven field goals in the final 20 minutes and out-rebounded Wright State by a margin of 18-7. The 18 points scored by WSU in the second stanza serves as UIC’s lowest opponent total this season.
The victory stands as UIC’s second opening-round win in the last three years as Flames improve to 18-18 all-time in the Horizon League Tournament, including a mark of 6-3 as the No. 6 seed.
Senior Ahman Fells chipped in 11 points, while sophomore Markese McGuire added 10 points and a career-high five assists. Junior Jason McClellan pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and netted nine points.
Wright State used a 21-4 run at the end of the first period to go ahead 39-20 at the break. The Raiders shot 15-of-25 (60%) in the opening half and received 10 points from junior Joe Thomasson and freshman Grant Benzinger.
The Flames slowly chipped away WSU’s lead and by the 8:35 mark in the second had pulled to within single digits (49-40).
The two teams traded buckets over the next six minutes, but a layup from McClellan and a three from Fells knotted the count at 55-55 with 1:58 left to play.
WSU responded with a basket by senior Chrishawn Hopkins to go back up by two with 1:39 on the clock. That’s when Jay Harris drilled his third trey of the night, giving UIC the lead for good.
With 44 ticks left, Benzinger had a clean look from three at the opposite that rimmed out. WSU had another chance to score after McClellan missed a contested layup, but Fells stole the ball and dished it off to Harris who was immediately fouled. After Harris sank both free throws the Raiders failed to get off a shot before the final buzzer.
Tags: Detroit Mercy - Men's Basketball · Horizon League - Men's Basketball · UIC - Men's Basketball
