Rallies, Overtime Highlights Monday's Men's Basketball League Games

Jan. 4, 2005

If the first full night of Horizon League action is any indication, the 2005 League season should be one of the most exciting ever. Detroit won for the fifth time in the last seven games, knocking off preseason favorite UW-Milwaukee 76-68, while UW-Green Bay fended off Wright State 73-71 in overtime on a basket with less than a second remaining. In other action, UIC avoided an 0-3 League start with a 62-56 victory over Youngstown State, which was looking to go over the .500 mark in League games for the first time ever, and Loyola notched its first Horizon League win of the season, defeating Cleveland State 70-55 in Chicago.

UIC 62, Youngstown State 56


YOUNGSTOWN (AP)-Jovan Stefanov scored 13 of his 16 points in the first five minutes of the second half, sparking the run that helped UIC defeat Youngstown State 62-56 Monday night.


Stefanov put in 13 straight for the Flames (5-7, 1-2 Horizon League) in a 15-5 run that turned a 27-all halftime tie into a 42-32 lead. He scored on three three-point plays, a layup and a dunk.


The Penguins (3-9, 1-2) trailed by five to seven points for the next 12-plus minutes until Derrick Harris hit a 3-pointer that made it 57-55 with 2:44 remaining.


Cedrick Banks then hit a jumper and Stefanov made two free throws to give the Flames a 59-53 lead with 40 seconds to play. Stefanov made one of two free throws with 10 seconds left for the final margin.


Banks added 12 points, Elliott Poole had 11 and Armond Williams scored 10 for the Flames.


Quin Humphrey and Zach Silverman each had 11 points for Youngstown State.
Box Score

Loyola 70, Cleveland State 55


CHICAGO (AP)-Majak Kou came off the bench to score 22 points and Blake Schilb added 16 as Loyola snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 70-55 Horizon League victory over Cleveland State Monday night.


Loyola (3-9, 1-1) led by as many 16 points, but the Vikings cut the margin to 54-46 on a 3-pointer by Steve Gansey with five minutes left.


Kou responded with his fourth 3-pointer of the night to boost the Ramblers back into double figures. Loyola hit 13-of-14 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the victory.


Omari Westley had 16 points to lead the Vikings and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Gansey and Victor Morris had 10 points each for Cleveland State (3-6, 0-1).


The Vikings controlled the backboard with a 37-21 edge in rebounds, but committed 21 turnovers, which resulted in 33 Ramblers points.
Box Score

UW-Green Bay 73, Wright State 71 (ot)


GREEN BAY (AP)-Ryan Evanochko's fadeaway jumper with 0.5 second left in overtime gave UW-Green Bay a 73-71 victory over Wright State on Monday night.


Wright State had tied the score at 71-71 on Jordan Pleiman's putback with 19 seconds left.


With no timeouts, Green Bay came back the other way, and Evanochko took the ball on the right wing. After backing down his man with a couple of dribbles, he spun and fired a 12-foot shot over Jaron Taylor to win Green Bay's Horizon League opener.


Matt Rohde led Green Bay with 20 points but did not score in the final nine minutes of the second half or in the 5-minute overtime. Javier Mendiburu added 19 points and Josh Lawrence 11, including two baskets in overtime. Evanochko finished with eight points, playing just 18 minutes off the bench.


DaShaun Wood scored 16 points to lead four Wright State players in double figures. His driving layup tied the game at 66-66 with 17 seconds left in regulation.


Wright State had battled back from a 10-point deficit with eight minutes left in the second half. Everett Spencer's 3-point play on a slam dunk highlighted an 8-0 run in a little over a minute, and Wright State shot 71 percent from the floor in the second half.


Mendiburu had multiple chances to win the game in regulation for Green Bay, but he missed three of four free throws in the final 1:01 and missed a jumper at the buzzer.
Box Score

Detroit 76, UW-Milwaukee 68


MILWAUKEE-James Thues scored 15 points to lead three Detroit players in double figures as the Titans withstood a blistering UW-Milwaukee rally Monday night to upend the preseason Horizon League favorite Panthers 76-68. Detroit's win was its fourth in the last five games after a 1-6 start and its first road win after opening 0-5.


The Titans (5-7, 0-2) led 41-33 at the half and were up by as many as 23 (59-36) with just under 13 minutes remaining before UW-Milwaukee finished the game with a flourish, closing the gap to 72-68 with 18.1 seconds left before Thues hit a pair of free throws moments later to put the game away. For the game, Detroit was 20-of-25 from the line and shot 45 percent from the floor (23-of-51), compared to only 32 percent (20-of-63) for the Panthers.


Ed McCants was a one-man scoring machine for UW-Milwaukee as he poured in a career-high 38 points, including nine three-pointers, for more than half of the Panthers' total points. Chris Hill added 11 for UWM.


Jon Goode had 14 points and a career-high eight rebounds for the Titans, while Brandon Cotton added 11 points and five assists.
Box Score