Chicago, IL – Josh Crittle led five players in double figures with 20 points as the Illinois-Chicago Flames ran past the Cleveland State Vikings, 82-59, in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament at UIC Pavilion.
Daniel Barnes added 16 points, Gary Talton chipped in 11 and Marc Brown and Hayden Humes each had 10 for fifth-seed Illinois-Chicago (17-14) which advances to take on fourth-seed Green Bay in the second round on Friday.
Charlie Lee had 17 points and Bryn Forbes netted 16 for Cleveland State (14-18).
In the first half the Flames shot better than 50 percent from the field and hit 5-of-10 from beyond the arc to take a 44-30 lead at intermission. Cleveland State made good on just 32.4 percent of its first half field goal attempts.
After the break the Flames cooled to 46.2 percent shooting but it was more than enough to hold off the Vikings who had just eight field goals in the final 20 minutes.
Illinois-Chicago had a 45-32 edge on the boards and outscored the Vikings, 30-20, in the paint.
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