Feb. 3, 2012

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CHICAGO - Freshman guard Joe Crisman scored a team-high 14 points, but it wasn't enough to overcome a 68 percent (25 for 37) shooting night by Cleveland State (19-4, 9-2 Horizon) as Loyola University Chicago (5-17, 0-12 Horizon) dropped a 65-47 contest to the Horizon League leader tonight at Gentile Arena. Loyola played without leading scorer Ben Averkamp who was out with an injury.

"We didn't lose because we weren't ready to fight or scrap," Loyola Head Coach Porter Moser said. "Our guards had to carry most of the load with Ben out and Walt (Gibler) slowed by an injury. Cleveland State doesn't give you much room for error. They are very athletic and their guards can really shoot the basketball."

Loyola hung tough in the first half and trailed 11-8 before Cleveland State went on a 9-4 run to open up a 20-12 lead with 11:25 left in the half. The Rambler defense turned it up a notch at that point and held the Vikings scoreless for over seven minutes, but was only to shave two points off of that eight-point deficit during that span.

Cleveland State, which played all but five minutes of the first half without leading scorer Trevon Harmon due to early foul trouble, hit 10 of 17 shots in the opening period, but did commit 12 turnovers against Loyola's defense. Meanwhile, Loyola was only able to connect on 31 percent (8 for 26) of its field goal tries in the opening 20 minutes and trailed 26-18 at the break.

The Vikings put the game away at the outset of the second half, opening the period on a 14-3 run, which was sparked by back-to-back buckets, one of which was a three-pointer, by Harmon to take a 40-21 lead.

Loyola would get no closer than 14 points (47-33) on a tip-in by Crisman, with 7:57 left to play. Cleveland State drained a staggering 15 of 20 shots (75 percent) from the field in the second half, while the Ramblers improved to 52 percent (11 for 21).

Jeremy Montgomery scored 16 points to lead four Vikings who scored in double digits.

Crisman knocked down 6 of 11 shots from the field for Loyola to finish with 14 points along with four rebounds and a pair of steals. Jordan Hicks chipped in nine points and Chim Kadima, Denzel Brito and Christian Thomas each added seven for the Ramblers.

Loyola is back in action Sunday when it hosts Youngstown State at 1 p.m.