Bradley's big 2nd half tops Loyola
After Bradley called yet another timeout in the first half in an ongoing attempt to stop the bleeding, a fan sitting behind the Braves' bench pointed out how much harder Loyola was playing the game.
The message proved to be motivational -- for Bradley.
Overcoming an 11-point deficit in the opening 20 minutes along with a 36-26 gap in the second half, the Braves delivered an extended finishing kick while beating the Ramblers 64-47 at the Gentile Center.
"I thought we played pretty good basketball for the first 20 minutes,'' said Loyola coach Jim Whitesell. "After that, we really had a hard time scoring. We really kind of stopped attacking. Give them a lot of credit; they're a good basketball team.''
After the Ramblers (2-3) dropped their third straight, Whitesell has got to be wondering about his own team.
Loyola was looking good when junior guard J.R. Blount scored 2 of his team-high 18 points on a jumper that put the Ramblers in front by 10 with 17:18 left in the second half.
After that, the Ramblers were outscored 38-11 the rest of the way.
"We got back out our heels, and this is a team you can't do that against,'' Whitesell said. "Our inability to punch back, especially in the last 10 minutes, really hurt. We got really passive.''
Bradley, on the other hand, overcame a sluggish opening half and finished with a flourish.
Senior guard Jeremy Crouch (21 points) set the tone with his strong outside shooting as the Braves went ahead 40-38 on freshman Sam Maniscalo's layup and rolled from there.
Loyola should have known its early dominance would be challenged. In Bradley's last game, the Braves trailed Vanderbilt by 24 late in the first half and cut the lead to 1 late in the game before falling.
That was on Saturday, and it was the fourth game Bradley (5-2) played in the South Padre Island Invitational.
"It looked like we had out sea legs in the first half,'' said Braves coach Jim Les. "I didn't feel we had great energy. It wasn't pretty, but sometimes you have to grind it out on the road.''