CHICAGO, Ill. – Loyola, the top shooting team in the Missouri Valley Conference, lived up to its reputation by shooting 50 percent to defeat the Drake University men's basketball team, 72-57, Wednesday evening at Gentile Arena. The win keeps Loyola on top of the MVC standings at 10-3.
 
Three Bulldogs finished in double-figure scoring with Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) scoring 16 points while Nick McGlynn (Stoughton, Wis.) added 16 points and seven rebounds. C.J. Rivers (Cahokia, Ill.) chipped in 10 points. As a team, Drake (13-13, 7-6 MVC) struggled to convert from the field, shooting a season-low 34.4 percent on the evening and just 29.4 percent in the opening half.
 
Loyola's (20-5, 10-3) torrid shooting was in part due to Cameron Krutwig's 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting while Clayton Custer added 14 points, 10 of them coming in the second half as the Ramblers opened up a double-digit lead to sweep the season series with the Bulldogs.
 
"Obviously we had no answer for Cameron Krutwig when they threw it inside," said Drake head coach Niko Medved. "As the game wore on more they were a step quicker than us on everything. They're a really good team and they don't have any holes."
 
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 12-5 lead in the first four minutes with McGlynn scoring five of those points. However, a series of Drake misses and turnovers in the next four minutes allowed the Ramblers to get out in transition and nearly draw even at 14-13 with 11:44 left in the first. Six of the Ramblers' eight points during that spurt came off Ben Richardson three-pointers.
 
"We made a few shots early and got off to a good start and probably could have made a few more," Medved said. "You've got to take advantage of your opportunities against a team like this. We scored a bunch early, but I did not like our pace. Give Loyola credit, they're good and found a way to keep it rolling, but we needed more intensity for longer periods of time."
 
The Ramblers briefly took an early first-half lead before McGlynn's second three-pointer of the half at 8:22 gave the Bulldogs a 21-20 lead. The advantage was short lived as Loyola clawed back and outscored the Bulldogs, 12-4, to end the half and carry a 32-28 lead into halftime.
 
That lead was quickly extended as the Ramblers opened the second half on a 7-0 run and took a 41-31 lead three minutes into the period before Medved took a timeout to try and stem the tide. The calls out of the timeout worked as Drake outscored the Ramblers, 13-7, with a 6-0 run mixed in to draw within four points, 48-44, with less than 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
 
"We played well in stretches where guys were flying around and making hustle plays," Medved added. "But against a team like Loyola, in their building, you have to do that for 40 minutes and we didn't do that."
 
In one of those stretches where the Bulldogs lost focus, Custer and Aundre Jackson struck with nine combined points from the pair in a two-minute span stretched Loyola's lead back to 10 points, 61-51, with 8:06 left in the game. The Ramblers continued to methodically add to that lead by shooting 56.7 percent in the second half to prevent any hopes the Bulldogs had of mounting a rally.
 
Drake returns home for its next contest Saturday, Feb. 10, against UNI. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at the Knapp Center on the MVC TV network. The game will be part of the Bulldogs' annual Alumni Weekend with former Bulldog greats joining the team throughout the weekend, including special recognition of the 2007-08 team on the 10^th anniversary of its historic season.
 
-DRAKE-