UIC Rolls in Final Non-Conference Game

Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 30)
UIC 79, Judson 38
Oral Roberts 77, Detroit 73 (OT)

UIC 79, Judson 38
The UIC men’s basketball team (4-11) secured its largest margin of victory in more than 13 years with a dominating 79-38 win against Judson College (2-12) on Tuesday night at the UIC Pavilion. All 11 players that recorded minutes also totaled at least two points and one rebound in the final box score as senior Ahman Fells and junior Paris Burns led the way with 12 points apiece. An 8-0 run to start the game for UIC, combined with a 29-2 run moments later, put the contest out of reach early.  The Flames are now 4-3 at home this season.

The last time UIC won by more than 41 points was on Nov. 21, 2001, when the Flames downed St. Joseph’s (Ind.) by a margin of 43 (96-53).

“It was good to see our guys play as one unit tonight,” said head coach Howard Moore. “We defended as a team, took care of the basketball and had a lot of post touches. It is always a good feeling to get a win before conference play starts, and we are excited to host Youngstown State on Friday.”

UIC committed a mere two turnovers which established a new program record. The previous single-game low was three, set on Jan. 16, 2013 against Loyola. The Flames forced 19 Judson turnovers and converted those miscues into 27 points. UIC’s 17 steals is team’s highest count since Dec. 22, 2007.

Another impressive statistic was UIC’s 23 assists, which the program has not accomplished in nearly seven years since Jan. 5, 2008 at Cleveland State.

Seven UIC players shot at or above 50 percent tonight as the team posted a season-high field goal shooting mark of 48.4 percent (31-of-64).  Thirty-one field goals also stands as a new season-best.

The Flames outscored Judson in the paint by a margin of 36-12 and held the Eagles to 29.2 percent shooting, a season-best for UIC’s defense.

Fells’ 12 points serves as a new career-high as the senior knocked down two triples in the first 93 seconds of the game. Junior Gabe Snider was 3-of-4 from behind the arc for nine points as he dished out four assists.

Junior Jason McClellan notched his highest output as a Flame with 10 points adding five rebounds. Redshirt freshman Lance Whitaker chipped in six points and totaled a team-high five assists.

Oral Roberts 77, Detroit 73 (OT)
Senior forward Juwan Howard Jr. poured in 22 points and sophomore Chris Jenkins scored a career-high 13 points but it wasn't enough as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team dropped an overtime thriller, 77-73, to Oral Roberts Tuesday night at Calihan Hall.

After trailing by as much as 10 late in the second half and five, 63-58, with 20 seconds left Detroit (6-8) used back-to-back 3-pointers from Howard and Jenkins to force overtime 64-64. Jenkins' 3-pointer tied the game with 4.7 seconds remaining.

Both teams swapped baskets to start overtime as the score remained tied 68-68 with 2:14 left, before Korey Billbury drained a 3-pointer to put Oral Roberts (6-7) up 71-68 with 1:16 remaining. Billbury then made a pair of free throws on the Golden Eagles next possession to extend their lead to 73-68 with 33 seconds remaining, before Howard buried a 3-pointer from near mid-court to make the score 73-71 with 28 ticks left.

The Titans almost forced a five second call on ORU's next possession, but the Golden Eagles were granted a timeout, before Obi Emegano made two free throws. Howard then made another jumper with 14 seconds left to make the score 75-73. But Billbury was able to seal ORU's first road win of the season with two more from the charity stripe to make the final 77-73.

Howard finished with 22 points – 20 in the second half and overtime – with six rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Jenkins scored a career-high 13 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Sophomore guard Jarod Williams also scored in double figures with 12 points, while Anton Wilson added seven.

Oral Roberts opened the game with a 9-0 run, before the Titans responded with a 14-4 run capped off by a Wilson jumper to take a 14-13 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half. But ORU was able to bounce back with an 18-8 run over the next 9:57 of the stanza, before Williams drained a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to trim the Golden Eagles lead to 31-25 during intermission. Williams led Detroit with 10 points in the first half, while Jenkins had six.

Oral Roberts would then extend its lead to as much as 10 in the second half and led 50-40 with 6:57 left, before a late run powered by 11 points from Howard and five from Jenkins, including his 3-pointer in the closing seconds to force overtime. Detroit's defense actually held Oral Roberts without a basket for the final 7:57 of the game, but the Eagles made 14-of-16 free throws during that stretch and finished 33-of-40 for the game.

Oral Roberts was led by Emegano and Billbury who combined to score 53 points and finished 22-of-25 from the charity stripe.

Detroit finished the game shooting 41.7 percent (30-of-72) overall and 40 percent (8-of-20) from downtown, while ORU finished shooting 41.3 percent (19-of-46) overall and 40 percent (6-of-15) from deep. But the difference in the game came from the foul line where the Golden Eagles made 33-of-40, compared to 5-of-12 from Detroit.