Familiar refrain for Flames

LOSE ANOTHER DOUBLE-DIGIT LEAD

December 5, 2010

Whoosh! photo UIC guard Robo Kreps scored a team-high 14 points in a loss to Akron on Saturday.

It was like having a bad dream all over again, but unfortunately for UIC, Saturday’s reality was a cruel repeat of what happened two days earlier.

For the second time in 48 hours, the host Flames relinquished a double-digit lead before losing in the final minute. This time, Akron came back from a 13-point hole to stun UIC 54-52 at the Pavilion.

Nikola Cvetinovic scored on a rebound basket with 26.4 seconds left to give the Zips (4-2) the lead and then poked the ball away from the Flames’ Robo Kreps with 5 seconds left to help preserve the victory.

“He’s a tough player, he has a motor,” UIC coach Howard Moore said of Cvetinovic. “He was at the right spots when they needed him to be for those offensive putbacks.”

Cvetinovic finished with a game-high 19 points and four steals for Akron while Brett McClanahan added 10 and Darryl Roberts chipped in with nine.

Kreps led the Flames (4-5) with 14 points and also grabbed six rebounds, but also turned the ball over five times, including twice in the final minute. Junior center Darrin Williams contributed a career-high 12 points to go with six rebounds and Zavion Neely added eight points.

UIC built a double-digit lead in the first half for the second consecutive game, using a 16-2 run to turn an early 9-6 deficit to a 22-11 advantage.

K.C. Robbins, who started for the first time this season, hit a hook shot off glass in traffic to kick-start the spurt. Darrin Williams muscled his way in for five quick points and then Kreps finished the run with seven straight points off his own.

The Flames closed the half with another 10-3 run for a 32-20 lead at the break, but Akron started the second half with seven quick points to slice the deficit to five points.

“Our guys came out with a sense of urgency, trying to get a little bit of redemption from Thursday’s game,” Moore said. “We came out with a good spark, and with a purpose. We built a nice, little double-digit halftime lead again, and in the locker room, we talked about not letting our lead or intensity slip.”

However, UIC answered with eight straight points, a streak that included two more baskets from Williams and a Kreps layup off a steal for a 40-27 lead with 16:51 left.

Then Akron took a page from Valparaiso’s book from Thursday night and started a comeback. UIC, which blew a 14-point lead against the Crusaders, again struggled down the stretch.

“In the second half, we lost some opportunities offensively, and we didn’t execute the way we did in the first half,” Moore said. “We allowed Akron to disrupt us, and get us out of our flow.”

Kreps hit a 15-footer with 4:49 to play to put the Flames ahead 51-44, but that was the last field goal of the contest for UIC.

Steve McNees hit a three-pointer as the Zips cut the lead down 51-49 with 2:28 remaining. Williams hit a free throw before Akron finally tied the game on Brett McClanahan’s trey with 1:01 remaining, setting up yet another frightful final minute for the Flames.

McNees stole the ball from Kreps moments later, leading to Akron’s go-ahead bucket with just 26.4 seconds to go.

UIC had one more good chance with 7.9 seconds remaining. In a timeout, Moore drew up a play for Kreps to run behind a screen to get the ball, but the Zips quickly double-teamed him and Cvetinovic took the ball away, leading to a Brad Birton intentional foul with 2.4 seconds left.

“[Cvetinovic] is a deceptive athlete, he’s very quick-twitched,” Akron coach Keith Dambrot said. “He jumped out on Kreps at the end and flipped it away. He can guard anybody on the floor. He’s an active guy and he plays pretty hard. We were going to double Kreps at the end off the ball screen and take our chances with the rest of them.”

Kreps saw the key play this way: “I was supposed to come off with a handoff,” he said. “I just wasn’t strong enough. I’m not sure if I was tripped up, but it doesn’t matter, I didn’t make the play I needed to. Coach [Moore] put in a great play, we just didn’t execute it.”

Cvetinovic missed two free throws, then Zeke Marshall missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 1.5 seconds left, giving the Flames perhaps one final opportunity. Kreps grabbed the rebound and Moore yelled for a timeout with what appeared to be about a half-second left on the clock, but the officials did not acknowledge the timeout and the buzzer sounded.

“We played well for most of the game, but it was more of the same thing (as Thursday),” Kreps said. “We kind of lost of energy. They came out and hit us in the mouth in the second half and we didn’t respond. We can’t keep losing these types of games. They hurt so bad, but we’re going to bounce back. We’re going to stop talking about it and be about it.”

Whoosh! photo Flame of the Game Center Darrin Williams came off the bench to provide a solid effort on the inside, scoring a career-high 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting. The 6-foot-9, 282-pound junior also grabbed six rebounds, including five on the offensive end. He scored five straight points during a 16-2 first-half run that gave UIC an 11-point lead.

FLAMES FLICKERS: Dambrot, who coached LeBron James in high school at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio, during the postgame press conference: “I probably yelled at LeBron James more than anybody.” …

Senior forward Paul Carter scored just six points on 1-for-11 shooting. He did finish with a team-best nine rebounds as UIC won the battle of the boards 41-34. … Senior forward Brad Birton drew two more charges, giving him 18 in nine games this season. … The Flames have turned the ball over 37 times in the last two games, including 13 by Kreps.

The Flames will have a week off from competition for final exams. UIC’s next game is Saturday, Dec. 11 at Illinois State.

AT THE BUZZER: Saturday’s game was like reliving a nightmare all over again, only this one ended in the regular 40 minutes not with a heartbreaking overtime period. It was a bit surprising to see the Flames losing back-to-back games in this fashion, especially since it seemed like Coach Moore was doing a good job of teaching and changing the culture. With nine of the next 11 games away from the Pavilion, UIC had better start closing out games. It's frightening to think this four-game homestand could have ended up 0-4 rather than 1-3 in four pretty winnable games.