It was a situation Loyola didn’t need to be in Wednesday–battling to overtake visiting St. Louis in a frenzied final minute.
But when the Ramblers’ normally reliable shooting went awry early in the second half, the seeds of defeat were planted as the Billikens claimed a 67-64 non-conference victory at the Gentile Center.
Loyola (5-2) shot just 37.5 percent from the field as St. Louis (5-1) snapped the Ramblers’ five-game winning streak.
“I thought we might get it there at the end,” Loyola coach Jim Whitesell said. “Our frustration was our inability to run a good offense after we ran it well early in the game.”
Loyola had averaged 50 percent from the field coming into the game and boasted four starters in double figures. On Wednesday, three hit double digits, led by Blake Schilb’s 21 points. And in a generally strong first-half performance, the Ramblers led by as many as 10 points and 36-30 by halftime.
“We were talking at halftime that we should be up more than six,” Whitesell said. “But they played good defense and we didn’t have good ball movement–and our lack of offense got them back into it.”
St. Louis quickly rallied to force a 38-38 tie early in the second half.
There would be seven more deadlocks until the Billikens took a lead for good at 62-60 when center Ian Vouyoukas put in a rebound with 2 minutes 43 seconds to play.
St. Louis still led 65-64, but Loyola had one more chance when guard J.R. Blount went to the line for a one-and-one with 6.6 seconds to play.
But Blount’s first shot missed and Vouyoukas rebounded it and was fouled. He sank two free throws to ice it.
Guard Kevin Lisch paced St. Louis with 15 points followed by Vouyoukas’ 14.
