Dec. 4, 2000

Box Score

Chicago, Ill. - It was a game of highs and lows for the University of Illinois at Chicago men's basketball team but the Flames ended on a high as they notched their seventh consecutive regular-season home victory with a 82-73 win over Drake on Monday night at the UIC Pavilion.

Guard Jon-Pierre Mitchom scored a team-high 17 points for the Flames (3-2) followed by Jordan Kardos (14 points), Aaron Carr (13 points) and Joel Bullock (13 points).

UIC head coach Jimmy Collins cited the efforts of Bullock as the key to the victory.

"Obviously in the second half, Joel's leadership helped us pull this one out," Collins said. "Drake's a good team and they have so many guys that can shoot the three. They hit a few, but we were able to rebound late in the game which was key."

UIC came out firing in the first half, surging to an early 19-5 lead. Drake (1-4) would battle back, though, behind the three-point shooting of freshman Luke McDonald to erase the Flames' 14-point advantage and take a 38-36 lead into intermission. McDonald tallied 16 points of his game high 26 points in the opening stanza, connecting on all four of his three-point attempts.

Drake held that lead until Carr hit a pair of jumpers to take a 59-57 lead with 9:30 left in the game. The Flames would maintain the lead behind the efforts of Mitchom and Bullock. Mitchom scored 12 of his team-high 17 points in the second half while Bullock poured in 11 of his 13 points in the final 20 minutes. Bullock also dished out five assists when Collins moved him to the point guard position.

"Sometimes I can present match-up problems when I play the point," Bullock said. "Coach `C' ran a few plays just for me and when we went to that, it enabled me to get into a rhythm."