CHICAGO, Ill. – The Loyola Ramblers connected on 54.5 percent of their second-half shots and opened the period with a 15-2 run to pull away from the Drake University men's basketball team for an 80-65 win Wednesday evening at Gentile Arena.
Drake (7-22, 5-12 MVC) opened the game shooting 48.1 percent to keep pace with the Ramblers in the first half before Loyola (18-12, 8-9 MVC) extended its lead to as many as 22 points in the second half to earn a split of the season series with the Bulldogs.
"Clearly the difference in the game was the first few minutes of the second half," said Drake head coach Jeff Rutter. "We missed a couple shots and had some turnovers that were costly. Once things got away from us, we had some uncharacteristic defensive errors in transition."
Drake was led by Graham Woodward's (Edina, Minn.) 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the three-point arc while Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) added 13 points. De'Antae McMurray (Alton, Ill.) had a team-high eight rebounds and five assists.
Loyola, playing its final home game of the season, had five players score in double figures with Ben Richardson, Milton Doyle and Aundre Jackson each scoring 16 points. Doyle also added seven rebounds and eight assists on his 'Senior Night.'
The Bulldogs scored their first nine points from the three-point arc as McMurray, Timmer and Billy Wamper (Eau Claire, Wis.) all connected to give the Bulldogs an early 9-7 lead four minutes into the game. The Bulldogs closed the half with six three-pointers on 14 attempts, with a pair from Woodward erasing a 5-point Rambler lead 11 minutes into the game.
However, the teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half until Loyola closed the half with five-straight points from Ingram and Jackson as the pair each scored 10 points in the opening half and a combined nine rebounds.
The Ramblers kept that momentum into the second half, outscoring Drake 15-2 in the opening minutes of the period to take a 48-34 lead by making six of their first 10 shots in the half.
"During that run to start the second half, you could sense we weren't as patient and didn't spread the floor," Rutter said. "They were down in our ball screens and we needed more step-up ball screens."
Drake cut the lead to single digits briefly before a 14-3 Loyola run stretched the advantage to 22 points, 75-53, with five minutes left in the contest to cruise to the victory in its home finale.
Drake closes its regular season at home Saturday, Feb. 25, against Bradley. Tipoff at the Knapp Center is set for 1 p.m. with the contest broadcast on The Valley on ESPN3. Prior to the game, the team will honor its two seniors in Jacob Enevold and A.J. Rutter.
