Box Score

PEORIA, Ill. (February 13, 2019)
 
In Short
Bradley (14-12, 6-7 MVC) used a 16-5 run in the second half to erase a deficit and then held off a late Loyola University Chicago (16-10, 9-4 MVC) rally to pick up a 61-54 victory tonight at Carver Arena. With the loss, the Ramblers' lead in the Missouri Valley Conference race falls to one game.
 
How It Happened
Loyola's defense locked up Bradley in the opening eight minutes, holding the Braves to 3-of-10 shooting from the field as it built a 14-6 lead. The Braves would battle back and closed within a point (15-14) on Darrell Brown's three-pointer, but a layup from Townes and free throw from Clayton Custer bumped the Ramblers' lead back to four points.
 
With a little under four minutes left in the period, Loyola clung to a two-point advantage until back-to-back buckets from Marques Townes and Cameron Krutwig stretched the Ramblers' edge to 26-20, but a  late Elijah Childs basket sent the teams into the locker room with Loyola in ownership of a 26-22 lead.
 
The Ramblers were unable to fully capitalize on their excellent defensive work, scoring just five points off of nine Braves turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Bradley put together a 7-1 spurt, capped by a jumper from Luuk van Bree, midway through the second half to claim a 43-39 advantage. After Townes scored to cut the Braves' lead in half, Brown beat the shot clock with a three from the right wing to give Bradley its biggest lead of the evening to that point, at 46-41, with 7:25 left to play.
 
A three from van Bree with 5:21 left put Loyola in a tough spot, trailing 52-43. Bradley's lead would swell to 56-45 before a three from Cooper Kaifes and a layup from Krutwig whittled the deficit down to 56-50 with 1:21 remaining, but Loyola would get no closer.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Townes led Loyola, totaling 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
• Krutwig added 13 points and 11 boards, while Bruno Skokna chipped in eight points for Loyola, which went just 5-for-20 from three-point range.
• Brown paced Bradley with 21 points.

 
Up Next
Sunday afternoon (Feb. 17), the Ramblers are back at Gentile Arena when they host Missouri State at 3 p.m. That game is sold out and will be televised live on ESPNU.