PITTSBURGH – Loyola Chicago's season came to an end Thursday night in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The Ramblers and Wildcats battled in overtime, but Davidson prevailed, 64-59. Kayde Dotson nailed a three with .4 seconds left in the second half to force the overtime stretch, but the Wildcats outscored the Ramblers 8-3 in the overtime period.
 
With the loss, Loyola finishes its season at 9-24 overall.
 
"We really wanted to come out and be physical. I thought we imposed our will in the first half," said head coach Drew Valentine. "We don't have a lot of bodies and everyone has played a lot of minutes the last few games, but I thought they came out with an edge, so credit to our guys for fighting til the end"
 
How It Happened
Thursday's second round game was a down-to-the-wire battle that saw 10 lead changes and nine ties over for 45 minutes of action. Davidson got on the board first, but Xavier Amos quickly took over the lead with a three for Loyola's first points of the game. There were four more lead changes by the midway point. Alexander Richardson racked up an early eight points for an 11-9 Loyola lead out of the 11:52 media timeout.
 
The Wildcats forced three more ties, but they faced a scoreless stretch of 5:25 to end the half. The Ramblers were able to build their lead to five by the break. Amos snagged an offensive board on a missed free throw to score at the buzzer. Loyola led 24-19.
 
Davidson struck first in the second and cut the lead down to one by the 15:43 mark. Miles Rubin scored on back-to-back possessions for the Ramblers to keep them ahead. Loyola built their lead back up to eight with a drive by Amos a little over two minutes later. The Wildcats battled back to tie the game 37-37 on a 10-2 run with 10:28 to go.
 
Richardson kept the Ramblers ahead with two straight buckets, but Davidson scored seven unanswered points to retake a lead with just under six to play. Tavarez responded with back-to-back threes for a four-point edge by the four-minute mark, but Davidson strung together another 7-0 run. Loyola took the lead one more time on a Rubin and-one drive with 1:57 left in regulation. The Wildcats went up by three with 16 seconds to play before Kayde Dotson forced overtime on a three with in the final second of action to tie it 56-56.
 
Dotson scored Loyola's only basket of the overtime period with a three to cut Davidson's lead down to one at the 2:47 mark. The Wildcats scored four straight to end the game and win, 64-59.
 
Inside the Box Score
- Rubin led all scorers with 20 points on 8-18 from the field. He was 4-4 at the line. Rubin added a game-high nine rebounds, three assists, and a block.
- Richardson finished with a career-high 14 points on 7-7 from the field. He tallied seven rebounds, one assist, and two blocks.
- Dotson was the final Rambler in double-figures with 11 points. He was 3-7 from three and 2-3 from the line.
- Tavarez had a game-high six assists.
- Both teams struggled from three and the foul line. The Ramblers were 6-23 from deep and 7-15 at the line. The Wildcats were 6-24 from three and 14-24 at the line.
- Davidson's bench outscored Loyola's, 25-1.