After he picked off his first couple of steals Thursday night, Loyola freshman guard Terrance Whiters said, “I began to smell blood . . . so I kept going after the ball.”
That describes how the Ramblers were able to beat Detroit Mercy 76-64 at the Gentile Center and virtually assure that they will host a first-round playoff game in the Horizon League postseason tournament.
Whiters, a 5-foot-10-inch native of Baltimore, came off the bench and made four first half steals to spark the Ramblers (13-14 overall, 8-6 in the Horizon) to a 42-29 lead at the break.
But led by Horizon scoring leader Willie Green, who totaled 23 points, the Titans (13-11, 7-7) reeled off a 16-0 run in the first 4 minutes 48 seconds of the second half to go ahead 45-42. At this point, Loyola coach Larry Farmer called time out.
“Coach made a substitute,” said Loyola’s 5-8 senior guard David Bailey. “He brought Terrance back in.
“I told Terrance, `We need you. Just go in there and do what you can do.'”
Whiters didn’t make any more steals. But he pressed Detroit’s guards, got in the passing lanes, deflected passes, disrupted the Titans’ offense and scored 14 points.
“I felt their guards were not that good at taking care of the ball,” Whiters said, “and I felt confident because of what Dave told me.”
Loyola finished the night with 11 steals. Whiters had four, Louis Smith three and Demetrius Williams two.
Loyola’s balanced scoring sheet included five players between 13 and 18 points: Paul McMillan 18, Bailey 16, Whiters 14 and Corey Minnifield and Williams 13 apiece.
“We knew Green was going to score, and we wanted to make him work hard for his points,” Farmer said.
“We wanted to work the ball inside and get their big men into foul trouble.”
Loyola reached the bonus free-throw situation with 14:33 left in the first half and played the last 11:29 with the double bonus where two shots were awarded for every foul.
