MVC champ Loyola holds off Northern Iowa 54-50
ST. LOUIS - After missing 9 of its first 10 shots, top-seeded Loyola finally got on track and held on to win a 54-50 defensive battle Friday against Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
The 26-5 Ramblers, riding a season-best eight-game winning streak, will face fifth-seeded Bradley in the semifinals on at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (CBSSN) at the Scottrade Center. Coach Brian Wardle's Braves (20-12) scored with 1.2 seconds left to defeat Drake University 63-61 in their contest.
Loyola led by as many as eight points late in the second but the ninth-seeded Panthers managed to scoring five straight points in the final minute to trim the Ramblers' lead to 51-48 with 30 seconds left. A pair of free throws by Lucas Williamson with 10 seconds left, however, gave Loyola some breathing room before teammate Marques Townes with a game-clinching free throw with 2.3 seconds remaining.
"I thought it was a classic Valley game, especially with Northern Iowa," Loyola head coach Porter Moser said. "It was gritty. It was tough. It was ugly at times. Just crazy how well they defend you. I was proud of our guys' mentality. There was no panic."
Donte Ingram had 13 points and eight rebounds for Loyola, Townes also had 13 points.
After its slow start, Loyola went on a 12-2 run in the first half to take a 20-16 lead over UNI. The Panthers, however, regrouped and Loyola went into the halftime break with just a four-point lead, 25-21.
The Panthers then put together a nice run early in the second half to tie the game. After an 8-2 run, Northern Iowa led the Ramblers 37-33.
Unfazed, Loyola rattled off seven straight points, the last coming on a long three from the top of the key by guard Ben Richardson (9 points, 6 assists, 4 steals on the day) that just beat the shot clock horn, giving the Ramblers the lead for good. Richardson's three was part of a 14-2 run overall.
Freshman center Cameron Krutwig of Algonquin added 8 points and 4 rebound for Loyola, which limited UNI to 39.2 percent (20-for-51) shooting, including just 25 percent (4-for-16) from three-point territory.
Bennett Koch scored 20 points for Northern Iowa (16-16).
• Associated Press contributed