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Talton, Kelley pull one out of the fire

SENIORS GUIDE FLAMES PAST RAMBLERS

January 17, 2013

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Gary Talton hit the game-winning layup with 1.7 seconds left in Wednesday’s win over Loyola.

It was a pair of seniors that led UIC to victory over its crosstown rivals Wednesday night.

One was an expected name, the other not so much, but they both were valuable cogs to the Flames’ 61-59 win over Loyola at the UIC Pavilion.

Point guard Gary Talton, the Flames’ leading scorer and top player, scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the second half to go with four assists and hit the game-winning driving layup with 1.7 seconds left as the Flames (11-7, 2-3 Horizon League) snapped a three-game skid.

But if it wasn’t for the early influence from swingman Anthony Kelley, UIC probably wouldn’t have had a chance to win in the end.

Kelley, who played 19 minutes over four games all season, provided an energy boost in just his second career start and finished with six points, three rebounds, two assists and an emphatic block in 21 minutes of action.

In the opening minute of the game, Kelley drove the lane and missed a layup, but he turned around and dove on the floor after the rebound as he secured a tie-up that kept the possession with the Flames.

“AK gave us a tremendous start to the game. He set the tone,” Talton said. He always pushes us in practice. He’s a great voice in practice. I’m just happy he’s on my team.”

And Kelley’s floorburns were inspiring as the Flames jumped out to a 19-7 lead just over six minutes into the contest.

“Anthony just stays after it,” UIC coach Howard Moore said. “He has a tremendous attitude and he comes to work every day in practice. We needed a boost after this tough stretch. It was simple to let this kid get a chance, and he did what you expect seniors to do.”

Kelley hit a pair of 3-pointers, made a great block and added an assist off an inbounds pass on a Hayden Humes’ 3-pointer during UIC’s opening burst.

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UIC’s Anthony Kelley provided energy in his second career start Wednesday.

“I just looked at it as an opportunity,” said Kelley of his first start since his freshman season under then-coach Jimmy Collins. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was a frustrating season for me up until this point, not really getting much [playing] time. I just wanted to keep a good attitude, and when my name is called, be ready to go. Thankfully I got that chance. I told myself this isn’t different from practice. I told myself to bring a lot of energy, do what you do in practice and good things will happen.”

The Ramblers fought all the way back and held as much as a five-point lead in the second half before Talton played the role of hero down the stretch.

Loyola took a 59-57 lead on a layup by senior Ben Averkamp (14 points) with 1:36 left, but the Flames responded when Josh Crittle (12 points) scored off a spin move in the paint to knot the game at 59-59 with 1:14 to play.

The Ramblers looked to go out with bang, but freshman Devon Turk missed a 3-pointer with 36 seconds remaining and Talton secured the rebound.

Moore put the faith in his players and most of all, Talton, by not calling a timeout and it turned out to be sound strategy.

With time running down, Talton worked his way down the lane with Jordan Hicks guarding, lofted up a shot off glass that dropped for a 61-59 lead with 1.7 seconds remaining.

“I liked what we were doing against [Loyola’s] man-to-man,” Moore said. “I thought that if we called timeout that [Loyola coach] Porter [Moser] would change defenses. I liked that they were in man. That opened the floor for Gary, see if we could get a high ballscreen and see if we can get him to the basket. We knew they were having trouble guarding our dribble penetration, so I thought we had a good chance.

“If I can’t trust my lead guard, we don’t have a chance of doing anything,” Moore added. “Gary has definitely solidified himself as being our true leader. He did a great of staying poised and allowing the game to come to him.”

After a timeout, Loyola was able to inbound the ball about three-quarters down the court to Averkamp, who turned in front of the Ramblers bench and fired a 3-pointer that was just a little short.

The Flames built as much as a 14-point lead in the first half.

UIC scored six straight points, including a short hook shot by Crittle and two baskets by Talton for a 25-12 advantage with 8:37 left in the half.

The Flames grabbed a 30-16 lead after Humes connected with a 3-pointer, but the Ramblers closed the gap in the final 6:39 of the half as they outscored the Flames 14-5 down the stretch to cut the Flames’ lead to 35-30 at the break.

“We didn’t start off defensively very well and that’s something has become more common as of late,” Averkamp said. “The good sign for us was that we were able to respond.”

And the Ramblers looked like they were going to take control at the start of the second half.

Christian Thomas (game-high 16 points) scored eight straight points during an aggressive 10-0 run that suddenly put Loyola up 40-35 with 15:40 left in the game.

UIC missed its first eight shots of the second half before sophomore reserve Jay Parker scored on a driving layup about 5 minutes in.

“The biggest thing was to keep our poise,” Moore said. “They were surging. We just had to stay solid in what we were trying to do and get back to making stops.”

The lead would go back and forth for the remainder of the game.

Daniel Barnes connected on a 3-pointer to give UIC a 46-45 lead with 11:22 left. Loyola’s Cully Payne hit his first basket of the game – a 3-pointer – to put the Ramblers ahead 51-48 with 7:47 remaining.

Turk drilled a 3-pointer with 4:46 to go for a 54-52 Loyola lead before Talton answered on an offensive rebound to tie it up at 54-54.

Payne knocked down another 3-point basket for 57-54 Ramblers lead with 2:43 left. Talton again countered, this time with a deep 3-pointer with the 6-foot-8 Averkamp lunging toward him with a hand in his face, setting up the frenetic final 2 minutes.

“UIC came out very energized and we got down double digits,” Moser said. “I thought we showed a lot of toughness, a lot of character coming back, but great players make the plays at the end of the game.”

HEALTH BEAT: UIC freshman Matt Gorski may not see the court this season. The 7-foot center has been out of a protective boot for about a couple of weeks, but he hasn’t practiced with the team yet. Moore is taking a wait-and-see approach on whether Gorski can play by the end of the season. Nothing is official, but it is likely Gorski will be redshirted and retain a full four years of eligibility. … Flames freshman forward Jake Wiegand (ankle) was not dressed for the game. He probably will be ready for Saturday’s game at Detroit.

FLAMES FLICKERS: Kelley’s only other start came in his first collegiate game when the Flames defeated UIS 72-59 on Nov. 14, 2009. It was the final season opener in Collins’ tenure as coach. … UIC committed a season-low three turnovers. It was the fewest turnovers in a game for the Flames since they had only three against Northern Illinois in an 84-64 win on Nov. 29, 2000. … The Flames’ streak of 30 consecutive free throws made as a team ended when Humes clanked UIC’s first attempt with 14:07 left in the second half. UIC did make its final six from the line. … Crittle had a team-high seven rebounds for UIC. … Sophomore forward Marc Brown came off the bench for the second straight game, hitting a 3-pointer in 17 minutes of play. … Sophomore center Will Simonton returned to a reserve role after starting Saturday at Green Bay. He scored six points on 3-for-6 shooting in 15 minutes Wednesday. … Parker gave 11 solid minutes off the bench, adding two assists to his two points.

In other recent news:
Blue day in Green Bay (1/12/13)
Not quite ready for big boys (vs. Valpo) (1/10/13)
Good news for Crittle, bad news for Flames (at CSU) (1/7/13)
Positive steps on Horizon (vs. YSU) (1/3/13)
Flames drop 3rd straight on road (at Toledo) (12/30/12)
Defense fails Flames again (at Miami-Ohio) (12/22/12)
Leathernecks douse 8-game winning streak (at WIU) (12/19/12)