Jan. 13, 2000

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - The UW-Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball team defeated the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames at the Klotsche Center, 82-64, in its MCC home opener Thursday.

UW-Milwaukee led by 13 at the half, mainly on the shoulders of Shaun Fountain who scored 13 first-half points. The Panthers came out fighting in the second half by crashing the boards and scoring from the charity stripe.

UW-Milwaukee dominated the boards by pulling down 46 rebounds compared to 27 for the Flames. The Panthers also went to the free throw line 24 times compared to UIC's 11.

"We made an effort after watching the Green Bay game to make sure we were in position for rebounds," said junior center Chad Angeli, who led the team in points and rebounds with 19 and 10 respectively.

The 10 rebounds ties his career-high set last year. This marks Angeli's first double-double of the season and only the second of his career.

"Angeli still looks like a superstar to me, he is a smart and courageous player," said UIC head coach Jimmy Collins.

The balanced Panther offensive attack included four players who scored in double figures. Senior guard Shaun Fountain scored a season high 19 points including seven of eight from the free throw line. Clay Tucker also added 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.

Freshman Adrian Coffey, a Chicago native, came off the bench to score a career-high 10 points and eight rebounds in only 11 minutes.

"Winning our home-opener in the conference is the start of something," said UW-Milwaukee head coach Bo Ryan. "We believe whoever our next opponent is should be ready for us because we know we can improve."

UW-Milwaukee has won three consecutive meetings against the Flames and leads the all-time series 18-10.

The Panthers return to the Klotsche Center to face conference-foe Loyola at 7 p.m. on Saturday.