Feb. 24, 2007

Box Score

Chicago, Ill. - A floater by UIC sophomore Josh Mayo with ten seconds left capped an 8-0 run to end the game and propelled the Flames to a wild 52-51 victory over Loyola on Saturday night in front of a near-capacity crowd at the Gentile Center.

The win was UIC's (13-17, 7-9) third straight and snapped the Ramblers' (20-10, 10-6) seven-game winning streak.

The Flames trailed Loyola 51-44 with 2:35 remaining when Mayo, who finished with a team-high 14 points, took over. He started the Flames' comeback when he found junior T.J. Gray (13 points) open in the corner for a three-pointer to cut the Ramblers' advantage to four.

Mayo then rebounded Blake Schilb's miss on Loyola's next possession and called his own number from behind the arc on the other end of the floor, connecting on the triple to make it a one-point game (51-50) with 47 seconds left.

The Flames would get the ball back setting up Mayo's heroics as he darted into the lane from the top of the key and dropped in the game-winner.

The Ramblers would get one more look at the basket in the final seconds, but J.R. Blount's off-balance jumper didn't fall.

With the win, UIC finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Horizon League with Youngstown State and UW-Green Bay. The Flames will be the No. 6 seed for next week's league tournament, opening play on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at the UIC Pavilion versus #7 UW-Milwaukee at 7 p.m.

Schilb and Blount each scored 18 points to pace Loyola.

The Flames out-rebounded the Ramblers, 45-36. Junior Othyus Jeffers paced UIC on the boards with 10.

Sophomore Scott VanderMeer had a strong all-around game for the Flames in a season-high 35 minutes, totaling eight points, seven rebounds and six blocks.