Boxscore (PDF)

CHICAGO (December 18, 2018)
 
In Short
Loyola University Chicago (7-5) shook off a bit of a slow start and dominated inside, holding a 48-8 edge in points in the paint, to breeze to a 75-47 victory over NCAA Division III foe Benedictine (4-6) tonight at Gentile Arena. The win is the Ramblers' second in a row and marks the second straight game they have shot over 60 percent from the field.
 
Coach Moser's Thoughts
"I thought we played the right way again, sharing the basketball. We really tried to go inside tonight and finished with 21 assists on 29 field goals. There were a lot of positives to take from this and a lot of guys got some playing time."
 
How It Happened
Some early sharpshooting courtesy of Kenny Bogus, who tallied eight of his team's first 13 points, helped Benedictine sprint out to a 13-8 lead before the Ramblers settled in. From there, Loyola, which shot 66.7 percent (16-for-24) from the field in the first half, out-scored the Eagles, 32-13, to take a 40-26 lead into halftime. It was a string of nine unanswered points that moved the Ramblers ahead for good, with a three-pointer from Clayton Custer capping that spurt to give Loyola a 17-13 advantage.
 
Loyola was able to pound the ball inside and got a combined 20 points from Cameron Krutwig (12) and Franklin Agunanne (8) in the opening 20 minutes alone as it built a comfortable advantage.
 
Christian Negron and Krutwig each scored four points as part of a second-half-opening 15-4 blitz that extended Loyola's lead to 55-30, its largest of the game to that point, and the Ramblers were never challenged from that point forward, going on to increase their lead to as many as 31 points, as 11 of the 12 players that saw action scored at least one point.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Loyola put the clamps on Benedictine's top two scorers heading into tonight's game – Eric Grygo (15.2 ppg) and Michael Johnson (12.0 ppg) – holding them to a combined 10 points.
• The Ramblers shot over 60 percent from the field for the second consecutive contest, hitting 61.7 percent (29-for-47) of their attempts, and also limiting the Eagles to 32.7 percent (17-for-52) from the field.
• Krutwig produced a team-high 18 points, hitting 8-of-10 shots from the field, while Agunanne added a season-high 10 points to go with seven boards and a pair of blocks.
• Custer totaled 11 points, inching him closer to the 1,000-point mark for his career. He needs 12 points to reach that career milestone.
• Marques Townes pitched in nine points, seven assists and four rebounds and both Negron and Bruno Skokna added eight points apiece.
• Kenny Bogus led Benedictine with 12 points.

 
Up Next
Loyola plays its final nonconference game of the regular season Saturday (Dec. 22) when it travels to Philadelphia to face Jesuit rival Saint Joseph's at The Palestra.