In-state College Briefs

In-state College Briefs

San Francisco 78 – Illinois Chicago 75, Friday, November 13th

In Chicago 7,500 plus watched the opener for both teams as the West Coast Conference Don’s spoiled the debut of UIC head coach Steve McClain.  San Francisco all-conference senior guard Tim Derksen tallied 17 points.  The UIC Flames had plenty opportunities to win the game, but were plagued by 32 percent shooting.  The McCLain era looks to be a bright one, the Pavilion was electric, we hadn’t seen that kind of lively audience since the early Jimmy Collins days.  Freshman Dikembe Dixson was the high-scorer finishing with 13 points for the Flames, he displayed a sweet shooting stroke, and with his 6-7 frame he has the capabilities to be a versatile threat and a player to watch.

DePaul 69 – Western Michigan 63, Saturday, November 14th

In Chicago the second tour of the Dave Leitao era was a successful one, his Blue Demons knocked-off a good Western Michigan team in front of an energized packed house on the Lincoln Park campus Saturday night.  The DePaul offense sputtered early, while missing several point-blank attempts near the rim, but managed to hold a 17-16 edge at the 7:42 mark before half.  Suddenly both team’s offense finally opened up with the Broncos  towering front-line they jumped out to a 35-24 half-time margin behind the scoring tandem of junior guard Tucker Haymond (13) and sophomore PG Thomas Wilder (9) who hooped in high-school at Oswego East.  Leitao in the second half found a rotation that was able to push the ball and create some offensive opportunities, but more importantly they were able to clamp down defensively against their MAC conference opponent who are projected to finish 2nd in the West Division of its league.  They used a 21-6 run in the 2nd half that enabled them to take control of the game at the 9:35 mark freshman guard Eli Cain converted a three point play to put the Blue Demons up for good.  Billy Garrett Jr. stabilized the offensive flow in the second half for the Blue Demons, he finished with 18 points, Myke Henry added 16 and Tommy Hamilton recorded 11 pts in an impressive outing.  Front-courter Rashaun Stimage will be the key for DePaul nightly. 

Northern Illinois 65 – Wright State 59, Sunday, November 15th

In DeKalb, NIU was able to hold off a feisty Wright State team to record its first 3-0 start since the 2006 season.  Junior guard Aaric Armstead was fouled attempting a 3 pointer with the score knotted at 59-59 with 51 seconds remaining, he converted 2 out 3 to put the Huskies up 61-59, senior guard Chuks Iroegbu made 1 out 2 foul shots on the Huskies next possession, then guard Travon Baker sealed the game with a huge three pointer with 20 seconds left to finish off WSU.  NIU fought an uphill battle most of the contest while being down at half-time 39-31.  The Huskies managed to limit Wright State top 3 first half scorers JT Yoho (16), Grant Benzinger (9) and Joe Thomasson (15) to ten second half points, the trio combined for 30 in the opening half.  Armstead tallied 18, sophomore center Marin Maric registered 13, while point-guard Travon Baker added 12.  “The student body in DeKalb will be rock’n this season.  The football team will share some head-lines this time around.”