CHICAGO (February 17, 2021)
 
In Short
No. 22/23 Loyola University Chicago (19-4, 14-2 MVC) rallied from a nine-point, first-half deficit and held on for a 54-52 victory over an upstart Valparaiso (8-15, 5-9 MVC) squad tonight at Gentile Arena for its 20^thstraight victory at home. The Ramblers have also won 18 consecutive Missouri Valley Conference home games.
 
Coach Moser's Thoughts
"That was a typical Valley, grind game. I thought (Cameron) Krutwig really bailed us out tonight."
 
How It Happened
Loyola got off to a slow start, connecting on only 3 of its first 15 shots as Valpo grabbed a 15-9 lead 12 minutes into the contest. Keith Clemons provided the majority of the offense in that opening stretch, tallying seven of the Ramblers' first nine points.
 
Cooper Kaifes provided some quality minutes off the bench in the opening period and his three-pointer with 5:18 remaining cut the Loyola deficit to 21-19, but Valpo countered with eight of the next nine points to extend its lead to 29-20, its largest of the half.
 
Loyola, which shot only 36 percent (9-for-25) for the half, began to heat up and find some rhythm on offense late in the period and back-to-back threes from Lucas Williamson and Aher Uguak cut the gap to 29-26 at the half.
 
Threes courtesy of Braden Norris and Clemons in the opening minutes of the second half provided Loyola with a 32-31 advantage, its first since holding a 7-6 edge.
 
With Valpo in possession of a 43-42 lead, Loyola received back-to-back baskets from Cameron Krutwig and Marquise Kennedy to surge ahead, 47-43, only to see Valpo counter with five straight tallies to reclaim the edge, at 48-46. 
 
Loyola, which finished the night with 10 threes, got two huge ones on consecutive possessions from Clemons and Williamson to grab a 52-48 lead with 3:31 remaining and Krutwig followed with a bucket to stretch the advantage to 54-48.
 
Valpo cut the lead down to a basket and had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds but Ben Krikke missed a jumper and Goodnews Kpegeol was whistled for a foul going for the rebound with one second remaining as Loyola held on for the victory.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Clemons finished with a game-high 16 points and added five rebounds, while Krutwig delivered 13 points, six boards and five assists for Loyola.
• Kaifes provided some quality minutes off the bench, producing eight points, his most since the season opener versus Lewis on December 5 (9), and two assists in only 10 minutes.
• With his five assists, Krutwig moved into a tie for 19^thplace on Loyola's career assists chart with 349 helpers. He is the only player in program history to rank in Loyola's all-time top 10 in points, rebounds and assists.
• Zion Morgan led Valpo with 15 points.

 
Up Next
Loyola is off until February 26 when it hosts Southern Illinois in the first of a two-game weekend series to close out the 2020-21 regular season.