February 16, 2007

Maroons Hold Off Rochester 76-73

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Led by senior Jason Vismantas (Highland Park, Ill./ Highland Park), all five starters scored in double figures as the 14th-ranked University of Chicago men's basketball team defeated University Athletic Association rival University of Rochester 76-73 Friday at the Palestra.

Vismantas notched his second double-double in as many games as he scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help lead Chicago (19-4 overall, 10-2 UAA) to its third straight win and 10th in its last 11 outings.

The Maroons took control early, jumping out to a 34-18 lead with 8:30 left in the opening period. Rochester (16-7, 7-5) outscored the Maroons 16-8 during the final 6:26 to close gap to 46-40 at the intermission.

Chicago led the entire second half. Senior Brandon Woodhead (Lincoln, Neb./ East) converted a three-point play to give the Maroons a 69-60 advantage with 8:49 left in the contest, matching their largest lead of the second stanza.

Rochester then went on an 11-4 run to close the gap to 73-71 with 3:05 to go.

Junior Nate Hainje (Brownsburg, Ind./ Brownsburg) hit a pair of foul shots at the 1:08 mark to increase the Maroons' lead to 75-71, but the Yellowjackets answered 16 seconds later with a jumper by Jon Onyiriuka.

Chicago rounded out the scoring when Vismantas connected on one of two free throw tries with 21 seconds left in the game.

Senior Jesse Meyer (Omaha, Neb./ Bellevue West) led all scorers with 17 points for Chicago, while Hainje and senior Drew Adams (Elida, Ohio/ Elida) each finished with 16. Woodhead contributed 11 points.

Onyiriuka and Mike Chmielowiec paced the Yellowjackets with 14 points each. Robert Dominiak came off the bench to collect 13.

Box Score