March 2, 2002

Box Score

CLEVELAND, Ohio - UIC outscored UWM 26-5 over the final 7:30 of the game to claim a 75-63 win in a Horizon League Tournament Quarterfinal Saturday night.

The Panthers end their season at 16-13, while UIC (18-13) advances to a Sunday semifinal with second-seeded Detroit.

UWM claimed a 58-49 lead with 7:30 to play following a Justin Lettenberger layin that capped a 7-0 Panther run. But UIC took the lead for good on a Cedrick Banks layin with 1:55 to play and pulled away with free throws down the stretch.

Banks scored 20 to lead UIC, while Dylan Page had a career-high 17 points to lead UWM. Clay Tucker added 15 and Ronnie Jones 14 for the Panthers.

UWM, playing without injured center Adrian Tigert, was outrebounded 50-33 and gave up 19 offensive rebounds.

"At this time of year, many seasons end like this," UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said. "Certainly for us, this season ended sooner than we thought it would. UIC gave a great effort. They really dominated us physically for part of the game."

The Panthers built an early 7-0 lead but UIC led most of the first half and held a 36-35 advantage. UWM's run midway through the second half appeared to give the Panthers control. But, UIC's finishing run allowed the Flames to beat UWM for the second time this season.