Loyola prevents Lakes from getting first win

It was the best possible scenario for Lakes and coach Brian Phelan.

Trailing Loyola (2-1) by just a point with 26 seconds left in regulation, the Eagles had the ball with an opportunity for their first win of the young season.

But as time wore down, the Loyola defense stiffened and the Ramblers escaped with a 39-38 win over the Eagles at Mundelein's tournament.

"Wins in losses are nice, but it gets tiring after a while," Phelan said. "For us, we always end up playing well at the right time of the year, so hopefully this will lead to that."

What did the Eagles in was a terrible second quarter. Lakes (0-3) was outscored 17-2 by the Ramblers and dug itself a 24-13 halftime deficit.

"Loyola was throwing a lot of defenses that we haven't seen yet, so it made it hard to adjust," said Eagles senior John Androus. "We bounced back nicely in the second half and put two good quarters together."

The Eagles outscored Loyola 11-3 in the third quarter then caught the ramblers at 32-32 with 3:54 remaining in regulation but could get no closer. A 3-pointer from Loyola senior Brian Daly broke the 32-all tie. Marcel Kirmanbey had one final chance as time ran down for Lakes but could not get the winning shot off.

Androus led a pair of Eagles in double figures with 12 points to go with 6 boards. Tyler Swindle, who battled foul trouble most of the night for Lakes, chipped in with 10 points.

Robert Wennington, son of former Chicago Bull Bill Wennington, led a balanced Rambler attack with 9 points, all off the bench.