Boxscore (PDF)

CHICAGO (December 30, 2017)
 
In Short
Marques Townes scored 17 of his team-high 19 points in the second half to fuel Loyola University Chicago's comeback from an eight-point halftime deficit for a 66-59 victory over visiting Evansville (10-5, 0-2 MVC) this afternoon at Gentile Arena. With the win, the Ramblers snap a brief two-game slide and improve to 11-3 overall and 1-1 in Missouri Valley Conference action, while picking up their ninth straight win at home.
 
Coach Moser's Thoughts
"What a warrior-like effort by Marques Townes. People will look at his 19 points, but I thought he set the tone with his defense. I thought we played good defense against Evansville's motion, which is very hard to guard. We played hard and kept grinding even when our shots weren't falling in the first half."
 
How It Happened
Neither team was able to get in sync offensively in the first half, but senior Aundre Jackson, who was coming off the bench for the first time this season, scored seven of Loyola's first 16 points to help the Ramblers to a 16-13 lead, 12 and a half minutes into the period.
 
From there though, Loyola would go ice cold from the field as Evansville rallied to grab an eight-point advantage thanks to an 11-0 run, during which Loyola was held without a field goal for just under five minutes.
 
Loyola found itself in a 28-20 hole at the break after shooting 36.4 percent (8-for-22) from the field, while hitting just 1 of 8 shots from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Ramblers limited the Purple Aces, the nation's top three-point shooting team (.463), to 2-of-6 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Townes opened up the second-half scoring with a three-pointer and added two more treys in the first six and a half minutes as part of a 15-7 Rambler run that culminated with a layup from Jackson, to knot the score at 35.
 
After the teams exchanged baskets, a jumper by Ryan Taylor and a three from Blake Simmons gave the Purple Aces the lead once again, at 42-37. Loyola answered right back though, with seven unanswered points of its own, capped by a pair of free throws from Bruno Skokna, to seize a 44-42 lead.
 
Evansville tied the game for a 10^th and final time on a Simmons layup, before taking a 46-44 lead on John Hall's layup with 7:50 remaining. Although he had been held scoreless to that point, Loyola senior Donte Ingram provided arguably the biggest basket of the game, draining a three-pointer from the left wing to put the Ramblers on top for good, at 47-46, with 6:29 left to play.
 
Loyola put the game away in the closing minutes as Townes scored five consecutive points to push the Ramblers' advantage to 56-50. After Evansville sliced that lead in half on Dru Smith's three-pointer, Lucas Williamson buried a triple of his own from the corner to bump the lead back to six (59-53) and the Aces would get no closer than four points the remainder of the way.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• The win was Porter Moser's 100^th as Loyola's head coach. He becomes just the sixth coach in program history to win 100 games as Loyola's bench boss.
• Townes finished with 19 points, his most since a season-high 23 versus UNC Wilmington on November 24, and added five boards, three assists and two steals, while hitting 6-of-9 shots from the field, including all three of his three-point tries.
• Jackson added 18 points off the bench, while Williamson pitched in eight points and five boards.
• Evansville was led by Ryan Taylor's game-high 20 points.
• Loyola limited Evansville to 35.7 percent (5-for-14) from three-point range.

 
Up Next
Loyola wraps up a brief two-game homestand when it welcomes Indiana State to Gentile Arena on January 3 at 7 p.m.