CHICAGO – Loyola Chicago won its opening night contest against The Citadel, 77-52. Four Ramblers finished with double-digit scoring efforts, including two double-doubles from
Jason Schofield and
Guillaume Grotzinger. Schofield recorded 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Grotzinger tallied 10 points and 11 assists.
With the win, the Ramblers are 1-0 on the year.
"I thought our group came with a great mindset. They held The Citadel without a point in almost the whole first 10 minutes. The mindset and mentality of this group really matches what we were trying to recruit and what's done really well here in the past, which is reliability and being an elite defensive group," said head coach
Drew Valentine. "We brought Jason here to be an efficient guy. He played for an elite defensive program, and he embodied that role we envisioned for him tonight. We ask our bigs to do a lot and he was able to do that tonight when we really needed him."
How It Happened
The Ramblers opened the season up on a 12-0 run in Gentile.
Ryan Agarwal drained the first points from three-point range, while
Nic Anderson,
Dayan Nessah, and
Dayton Williams got in on the early scoring. Loyola held The Citadel scoreless until the 10:39 mark. The Bulldogs were 0-10 from the field and 0-9 from three before tallying their first bucket.
Loyola pushed its lead to the largest yet at 16 with seven unanswered.
Chris Jeffrey scored five of the seven, including the three to cap the stretch with 6:33 to play. The Bulldogs chipped their way back in and cut the lead to single-digits by the break. The Ramblers led 36-27 going into halftime.
The Bulldogs opened the second with a three, but the Ramblers quickly shook them off with a 13-0 run sparked by a second-chance tip-in from Schofield.
Jayden Dawson scored his first points back in the Maroon & Gold, while Grotzinger's second-chance attempt put Loyola up by 19 with 13:54 to go.
The Citadel cut the lead down to 12 twice before the nine-minute mark, but it was the closest they'd get. The Ramblers responded with another 10 unanswered to push the lead past 20. Williams scored six straight in the run. Loyola led by as much as 27 with 1:33 to play and finished the night with a 77-52 win.
Inside the Box Score
- Nessah led all-scorers with 19 points on 8-13 from the field and two threes. He neared a double-double with nine boards. He added two steals and had Loyola's two blocks.
- Jeffrey had 14 points off the bench on 5-9 from the field and two threes. He added three assists and a steal.
- Schofield recorded 10 points and 12 boards for his third career double-double. Nine of his rebounds were on the offensive glass.
- Grotzinger also registered a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists. The last time a Rambler had a double-double with assists was March 8, 2025 when Kymany Houinsou tallied 10 boards and 10 assists at UMass.
- The last time two Ramblers recorded a double-double in the same game was vs. Drake in the MVC Championship on March 6, 2022. Lucas Williamson had 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Aher Uguak had 16 points and 10 boards.
- Loyola outrebounded The Citadel, 43-26. The Ramblers also led on the offensive glass, 22-10.
- The Ramblers shot 45.6 percent from the field (31-68) to the Bulldogs' 34 percent (16-47).
- Loyola converted 19 Bulldog turnovers to 21 points.
- Loyola dominated in the paint (44-14) and on second chance (18-6).
Up Next
Loyola continues opening week at home on Thursday vs. West Georgia at 7 p.m. CT.
