Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (February 18, 2018)
 
In Short
Loyola University Chicago (23-5, 13-3 MVC) clinched at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title with a 76-66 victory over host Evansville (16-13, 6-10 MVC) this afternoon at Ford Center. The Ramblers also matched a program record with their 13^th conference win. This is Loyola's first conference crown since 1984-85 when it won the Midwestern Collegiate Conference title.
 
Porter Moser's Thoughts
"We've got more work to do, but I'm so proud of our guys to come in here and get a tough road win. Turnovers really bothered us today, but Donte Ingram stepped up and hit some big shots and we made a lot of intangible plays that you need to have in order to win championships."
 
How It Happened
Both teams struggled at the offensive end of the floor with early shooting percentage that were as cold as the temperature inside Ford Center. Evan Kuhlman's first of back-to-back three-pointers gave Evansville its largest lead of the period, at 23-18, before Clayton Custer answered with a three of his own to cut the gap.
 
Kuhlman followed with another three to extend the Purple Aces' lead back to five, but a driving layup by Donte Ingram opened up a brief 6-0 Loyola spurt that was punctuated by basket from Marques Townes that gave the Ramblers a 27-26 advantage.
 
However, John Hall's layup right before the first-half buzzer sent the Aces into the locker room on top, 28-27. Loyola held Ryan Taylor, the leading scorer in The Valley, to 3-of-12 shooting in the opening 20 minutes, while Townes led all scorers with 11 first-half tallies.
 
Loyola rattled off six unanswered points midway through the second half to open up a 49-43 lead and minutes later, a three from Ingram gave the Ramblers a 54-47 advantage, their largest of the game to that point. Evansville sliced the Loyola lead to 55-53, but a basket by Aundre Jackson and a three from Custer stretched the edge to 60-53 with five minutes remaining.
 
The Purple Aces scored four straight points to trim Loyola's lead to three, but a gigantic three by Ingram, who has had a knack for hitting clutch shots all year, extended the advantage to 63-57. Ingram hit one final clutch basket, sinking another trey to give the Ramblers a 69-61 lead after the Aces had cut the deficit to five.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Townes scored 22 points, hitting 8-of-13 shots from the field, while Custer added 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists, as he bolstered his case for MVC Player of the Year honors.
• Ingram added 14 points and Jackson pitched in 11 points and five points off the bench.
• Loyola shot a sizzling 70 percent (14-for-20) from the field in the second half.
• Ryan Taylor led all scorers with 27 points for Evansville.

 
Up Next
Loyola plays its final road game of the regular season Wednesday night (Feb. 21) when it travels to Southern Illinois.