Nov. 6, 2007

Box Score

Chicago, Ill.- Josh Mayo scored a game-high 21 points to pace the UIC men's basketball team to a 59-57 exhibition win over Lewis at the UIC Pavilion on Tuesday.

Scott VanderMeer finished with a double-double after scoring 12 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

Sophomore Jeremy Buttell made his UIC debut with nine points and nine rebounds.

The Flames jumped out to an early lead, taking a 33-19 advantage into intermission. A late Lewis surge and some cool UIC shooting made the game closer, but the Flames came away with the win.

"We dug down and pulled it out," said UIC head coach Jimmy Collins, coaching in his first game since last December after missing the final 19 games of 2006-07 due to an abdominal aortic aneurysm. "Our players showed some tenacity at the end. We did some things that didn't please us, though, and Lewis is a very good team that will take advantage of those mistakes."

Rookies Robert Kreps and Tori Boyd also debuted for UIC on Tuesday night, providing some quality minutes.

UIC opens the 2007-08 regular season against Bradley this Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. at the UIC Pavilion.