Team #91 - Loyola Chicago

On Saturday January 8th, 2022, I saw my 91st Division One College Basketball team. On this occasion, I took a trip to Chicago to watch the Loyola Chicago Ramblers take on the Bradley Braves. Loyola Chicago is the 2nd team that I have seen out of the Missouri Valley. The other team being Bradley many moons ago.  The Braves come in off a 71-69 loss at home to Missouri State on Wednesday January 5th.  This game came down to the final possession as Missouri State would win on a buzzer beater.  Terry Roberts has been the leading scorer for Bradley, averaging 15.9 PPG. Loyola Chicago comes in off a 79-74 win over San Francisco. This game was played at Salt Lake Community College. Prior to this game, Loyola faced a long COVID pause prior to this. Having last played a game December 10th against Vanderbilt. Loyola Chicago has been led by Ryan Schwieger in scoring, averaging 12.5 PPG. Lucas Williamson has also been having a very strong 5th Year season for Loyola. He is averaging 12.1 PPG and 5.5 rebounds. 

First off, I must say Gentile Arena is an awesome venue to watch a college basketball game. The crowd is awesome and what better way to start a hoops game than a prayer by Sister Jean. The first 12 minutes of the first half was dominated by Loyola. Each team applied a lot of defensive pressure and it was Loyola who handled it the best in the early stages. Both teams hedged very hard on screens and created double teams on the ball. In the early going, Loyola used this to their advantage getting some easy layups for Ryan Schwieger and Aher Uguak. With eights minutes to go in the first half Loyola led 22-15. I figured the game would stay around this number for the most of the game. Boy was I wrong. Bradley would not go away. The Braves would end the half on a 18-7 run. This was fueled by the Rienk Mast, Connor Hickman and Terry Roberts. Rienk Mast was problem down low. Loyola really did not have an answer for the Bradley big man. Roberts found Hickman and Mast open for many shots late in the half. As a result, the 13.5 point underdog Bradley Braves found themselves ahead at halftime 33-29. The Rambler faithful was stunned. The thing I really loved about this game in the first half was the fast tempo. Both teams scored a lot of buckets on backdoor cuts and each loved to run. 

Bradley would come out on fire to start the second half. After Lucas Williamson made a free throw to score his first points of the game the score was 33-30. Bradley would go on a 17-4 run to give them a 16 point lead. The most Loyola had been down all year was ten. During this stretch, three player would do all the scoring for Bradley. Malvey Leons would score six straight on a three and a three point play. Then Ville Tahvanaien would hit back to back threes. Finally, Mikey Howell would score five straight. This would give Bradley a 50-34 advantage. Over the next three minutes, Loyola would start the comeback. Loyola would go on an 11-0 run. Lucas Williamson and Tate Hall were huge for Loyola in this stretch scoring five and four points respectively. Just like that we had an epic fight. The Rambler home faithful had the joint rocking. The Bradley lead had been cut to 52-45. After a Connor Hickman made layup off a backdoor cut for Bradley, Loyola would keep chipping away. Loyola Forward Chris Knight found himself at the center of the action getting a lot of offensive rebounds and easy put backs. After two layups by him and another by Aher Uguak, the score was 54-51 with eight minutes left. Bradley would maintain a lead of between 3-5 points until with 1 minute 38 seconds left. Lucas Williamson with a hand right in his face hit a three pointer and got fouled! He would convert the free throw and this tied the game at 64 all. The crowd was going nuts. After a Jayson Kent missed jumped Loyola would secure the rebound. Chris Knight would find himself open down low off a pass from Braden Norris and converted the layup. This gave Loyola a 66-64 lead. It's first lead since 27-25 with three minutes left in the first half. With 40 seconds left, Rienk Mask would hit a layup for Bradley to tie the game at 66-66. Loyola called timeout! Lucas Williamson took a three with about ten seconds left. The shot was no good, but Ryan Schwieger tracked down the offensive board and threw it back up top. Williamson had another chance to be the hero. This time he attacked the lane. It appeared he was fouled on his drive to the basket but no foul was called. His layup attempt was short, the buzzer sounded and we headed to overtime. 

This would be the first game that I have seen this year go into overtime. Overtime was really just a free throw contest for the first four minutes. Loyola would make two free throws, then Bradley would make two free throws. Loyola would make one free throw, Bradley would make one. With a minute left the score was tied at 69. Lucas Williamson would hit a three pointer right in front of his own bench to give Loyola a 72-69 lead. This would be the difference in the game as Bradley would only score one more basket the rest of the way. Williamson would go a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line and just like that the comeback was complete. Loyola Chicago would win the contest 78-71 over Bradley. Williamson was the leading scorer for Loyola with 20 points. 14 of those points came in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime. Rienk Mast was the leading scorer for Bradley with 20 points also. What a great game. By far the best game I have gone to all year. I am definitely planning to do another Loyola game this season if the weather allows. 

My next games are January 15 as Marquette takes on Seton Hall followed by IUPUI taking on Milwaukee. If anyone cares the night cap is Raptors-Bucks.