Loyola guards can't do quite enough

Given the bulk of backcourt production Loyola lost to graduation, the onus figured to shift toward the post this season.

Guard J.R. Blount would do his thing, but the scrappy junior would need help from forwards Andy Polka, Leon Young and Tom Levin.

Too often Friday night, Blount and his backcourt brethren were going it alone.

Despite a valiant effort from its guards, Loyola couldn't overcome scoring lulls and rebounding blunders in a 63-61 loss to Western Michigan.

The Ramblers (2-1) lost only their second November home game under third-year coach Jim Whitesell.

Blount (21 points) and Tracy Robinson (11 points) rallied Loyola from a 13-point second-half deficit, with Blount grabbing 5 steals and Robinson snaring 5 rebounds. But every time the Ramblers made a charge, Western Michigan (2-2) responded by attacking the rim.

With the lead trimmed to 6, Broncos guard Shawtes Gary dashed through an unsealed weak side for a follow slam. Moments later, Western Michigan grabbed 2 more offensive rebounds.

Down 61-59, Loyola forced a Broncos miss, but Gary grabbed the offensive rebound. Strong defense forced a Broncos timeout with three seconds left on the shot clock, but center Joe Reitz beat the buzzer with a jumper.

"Momentum had changed," Whitesell said. "We had kind of gotten them on the ropes, and it was 3 (offensive rebounds) in the last five possessions.

"The rebounding area is an area we've got to look at and get better in a hurry."

Loyola still had a chance in the final seconds when, down 2, Blount forced a turnover on an inbounds pass under the Ramblers' basket. Ross Forman missed a short shot and Blount had a look but couldn't connect to tie the score.

"Ross looked like he could have got fouled -- maybe, maybe not," Blount said. "I got that rebound and missed an easy shot as well."

With three seconds left, Gary missed both free throws. Robinson had 1 final shot but launched his 3-point attempt after the final buzzer.

Loyola's backcourt of Blount, Robinson and Cortney Horton, who had a career-high 9 points, accounted for 67 percent of the team's scoring. Polka and Young combined for only 6 rebounds as Western Michigan held a 35-23 rebounding edge.

Reitz gave Loyola fits all game, tallying 17 points and 9 rebounds in only 27 minutes.

"We didn't do as good a job as we should have done on help defense on the back side," Whitesell said. "Other times, we just let him get the ball too easily."

The lead changed eight times in the first half before the Broncos took control in the final four minutes. Loyola continued to struggle offensively after halftime, missing 8 of its first 11 shots.

"We got stagnant," Whitesell said. "We've got to shorten up the areas when we don't play as well."