Flames fall short vs. Youngstown State
Jake Wiegand corralled six offensive rebounds Tuesday. Photo: Steve Woltmann
The men’s basketball team (5-11, 0-2) was on the verge of a comeback in the second half against Youngstown State (10-8, 1-2) Tuesday night, but ultimately dropped the Horizon League match, 75-62. YSU’s Kendrick Perry led all scorers with 23 points, while UIC was paced by senior Kelsey Barlow with 17, his 14th double-digit game of the season.
“It all starts with competitiveness and we will find ways to be more competitive,” head coach Howard Moore said. “We’ve shown that we can compete in the first half. In the second half, we didn’t play with any aggressiveness and that’s why I went to a different lineup. I was looking for a group that could bring some juice and they did that. I may need to look at that group a little bit more. We are certainly better than what our record shows.”
UIC returns to action Jan. 12, traveling to Wright State for an 8 p.m. CT match up. The Raiders are 9-8 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
After leading by as many as six points in the first half, UIC found themselves in a 56-41 deficit with less than 12 minutes left to play. With the game tied at 39, the Penguins executed a 17-2 run during a five-minute stretch in the second half.
That’s when Moore subbed in four players, who capped the Penguin’s run. By the 6:47 mark, UIC had cut YSU’s lead to seven and was gaining momentum. The Flames’ 10-2 offensive spurt was quickly countered with three straight points by YSU and they were back in front by double digits. Sophomore Jake Wiegand made it a 63-56 game after a three-point play with 4:31 remaining, but consecutive three-pointers from YSU two minutes later sealed UIC’s fate.
Junior Marc Brown joined Barlow in double figures with 14 points.
The Flames dominated YSU on the boards by a margin of 36-26 as senior Jordan Harks grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, leading UIC for the third consecutive outing. UIC corralled 15 offensive rebounds, including six from Wiegand, producing 17 second chance points on the night.
