Loyola’s men’s basketball team (8-2) drove past Roosevelt University December 88-49, scoring their fourth win over a Chicago rival to end the city sweep.
This is the first time Loyola has competed against a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) team this season as the Cavaliers visited the Ramblers after a three-game winning streak. However, the Ramblers held a 27-game winning streak at home and had won 15 straight games against non-NCAA opponents.
Loyola went into the game without two of their starters. Redshirt junior guard Braden Norris and striker Aher Uguak – two crucial players for the Ramblers – averaged 10 and 8.2 points per game respectively this season. Both with non-COVID-19-related illnesses were part of last season’s MVC title winning team, beating the Midwest’s top-seeded Illinois University in the NCAA tournament.
At the beginning of the game, both teams failed to score on their first possession. By the second minute of the game, sophomore, Jacob Hutson managed to get the Ramblers on the scoreboard first after being prepared by graduate tutor Lucas Williamson.
Roosevelt was quick to react, as Jupiter Mouton was able to hit with a layup to equalize the game to two on the next possession. That was the last draw of the game as Loyola would continue to dominate the game and slowly extend his lead over the Cavaliers.
Loyola’s high pressure defense suffocated Roosevelt. With eight minutes remaining in the first half, Graduate Tate Hall’s third steal in the game gave him his third assist of the game by passing the ball to first grader Ty Johnson to aid him with his first career bucket.
In a dominant first third for the Ramblers, senior striker Ryan Schwieger caused some excitement to end the half. 1.9 seconds before the start of the game, Schwieger shot the ball at the buzzer and scored a three-point that put Loyola 44:22 ahead of Roosevelt.
According to Loyola head coach Drew Valentine, the final game of half went as planned, with Williamson being credited as much for the pass as in-law for the shot.
“Lucas made a great pass because those plays won’t happen if you don’t get the ball right,” said Valentine. “We have a couple of different ones [plays] Obviously late game, end of half … we did it [Schwieger] and he took the shot. “
The Ramblers outperformed Roosevelt in major categories in the first half. Loyola doubled or improved Roosevelt’s statistics in points, assists, steals, points from the bench and rate of fire from three-point territory. Roosevelt, on the other hand, had twice as many turnover as Loyola with 10.
Both teams came on the offensive more aggressively in the second half. In the first eight minutes, both teams combined to make a total of 12 three-point shot attempts. Of those 12 attempts, Loyola managed to score three out of five and beat Roosevelt’s three out of seven.
By the time the penalty shoot-out ended, Loyola had increased their lead from 22 to 33 points by the time the scoreboard showed 64-31.
Five minutes before the end of the game, an alley oop scored by security guard Ty Johnson – courtesy of striker Saint Thomas – blew the Gentile Arena up when first years got together for a highlight game that Valentine described as “absolutely nasty.” Valentine said he was happy to see his freshers out there, and particularly praises Thomas.
“I thought Saint was really solid tonight,” said Valentine. “He missed a couple of shots, but that didn’t affect how his energy and intensity was, and how his mood was out there on the ground. He stayed confident, no matter what … Saint Thomas won my trust tonight. “
The game ended with a score of 88-49 in favor of the Ramblers. Schwieger – team leader in scoring with 15 points – mentioned his appreciation for the fans after he had more than 2,300 spectators in a game against a non-NCAA team.
“It’s shocking to see the fans get to a game that many fans may not pay attention to for our schedule, but it’s crazy,” said Schwieger. “It’s great to see how supportive the fans and especially the students are … it’s really a special, special atmosphere.”
With the victory over Roosevelt, Loyola ended his streak against Chicago City opponents. The Ramblers also defeated Chicago State University, the University of Illinois Chicago and Big East Conference member DePaul to complete their battle against their city rivals.
The Ramblers travel to Nashville, Tennessee for Loyola to face Vanderbilt University on December 10th. The kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the game is to be broadcast on SEC Network +.
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