CHICAGO, Ill. (March 4, 2023)
In Short…
Making his first start of the season,
Sheldon Edwards scored a career-high 25 points to lift Loyola University Chicago (10-20, 4-14 A-10) past La Salle by a 76-73 margin Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale for both programs.
Edwards made a career-best nine field goals, including three from behind the arc, while adding three assists, three steals and a rebound.
Philip Alston came off the bench to score 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
Loyola led by as many as 13 late in the second half but a late La Salle surge brought the Explorers back within a possession. Free throws at the end by Edwards and
Tom Welch sealed the two-point victory.
How It Happened
Sheldon Edwards, making his first start of the season was firing on all cylinders out of the gate, opening a perfect 4-for-4 from the field. Edwards knocked down a pair of early triples, scoring 10 of Loyola's first 15 points as the Ramblers jumped out to an early 15-8 lead.
Six unanswered points by the Ramblers gave Loyola its largest lead of the half at 28-19 with 6:35 to play.
Philip Alston knocked down a corner 3-pointer before following it up with a layup while
Jalen Quinn added the final point from the charity stripe.
Loyola maintained its advantage throughout the remainder of the opening half, taking a nine-point lead into the break with a 38-29 lead over the Explorers.
La Salle came out aggressively to start the second half, scoring 11 of the first 14 points to pull within one and force Loyola to burn a timeout with 16:12 to play. Loyola weathered the storm and Edwards' emphatic dunk capped a 6-0 Loyola run to push the lead up to seven with 11:37 play.
Another Loyola run, with Edwards once again playing a vital role, put the Ramblers up a game-high 11 points with just over eight minutes to play. An Edwards 3-pointer and layup served as bookends to an Alston dunk as Loyola built a 62-51 lead with 8:01 remaining.
The lead would grow to as many as 13 with 5:06 to play, but La Salle went 5-for-5 from distance over the final five minutes to make it a two-point game with seven seconds left.
Tom Welch split a pair of free throws to extend the lead to three with six seconds left, and La Salle's half court attempt at the buzzer was off the mark.
Inside The Box Score
- Loyola dominated the glass, owning a 29-19 advantage in rebounding. The Ramblers had nine offensive rebounds while holding La Salle to just three offensive rebounds.
- The Ramblers picked up just their second win of the year when their opponent has a higher shooting percentage. La Salle shot 56% from the field while Loyola finished 54.5%.
- Jacob Hutson came off the bench to provide nine points on 4-for-5 shooting.
- Braden Norris and Alston shared the game-high in rebounding with five boards each.
Up Next
Loyola heads to Brooklyn for the 2023 A10 Men's Basketball Championship. The Ramblers will start their postseason run on Tuesday, March 7 at 1 p.m. (CT).
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