Men’s basketball knocks out Judson

Dikembe Dixson scored 34 points Saturday. (Photo: Steve Woltmann)

UIC turned up the jets on both ends of the floor in the late stages Saturday as they knocked off the Judson College Eagles, 95-78, in an exhibition contest. The Flames outscored the Eagles, 25-8, over the final 7:30 minutes to cruise to the victory.

Sophomore Dikembe Dixson led all players with 34 points in the victory, while newcomers Tarkus Ferguson, Godwin Boahen and K.J. Santos were in double figures in the scoring column with 12, 11 and 11 points respectively.

UIC got off to a fast start. After winning the opening tip, Tai Odiase slammed home a pass from freshman K.J. Santos just 10 seconds into the contest.

After taking a 15-8 lead, the Flames surrendered an 8-0 run that ended when Marcus Ottey came up with a steal and a slam at the other end to regain the lead at 17-16.

The home team ballooned its lead back to a half-high nine points with 1:46 to play in the period following an acrobatic layup from Dixson.

The Eagles pulled to within two after a three-point basket with 50 seconds remaining, but Ferguson drained a triple with 34 seconds to go for a halftime score of 44-39.

Judson briefly took the lead in the second half with 17:58 left after scoring the first six points of the stanza. Dixson hit a mid-range jumper nine seconds later to regain the edge.

Later, the Eagles regained the lead but UIC used a 16-8 run to tie the game when Ferguson buried another three-pointer. Ferguson’s free throws gave the Flames a lead again.

The Flames closed the game on a 25-8 run over the game’s final 7:30.

Odiase blocked three shots in 22 minutes, while newcomer Clint Robinson rejected a pair.

Santos, a 6-foot-8 freshman, dished out a team-high four assists for UIC. The Flames had 13 helpers as a team.

Dixson scored a game-high 34 points in only 26 minutes of action.

UIC begins its regular season Friday with a road trip to the West Coast. The Flames meet the San Francisco Dons at 10 p.m. CST.