Feb. 4, 2006
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
CHICAGO, Ill. -- Blake Schilb scored 27 points and the Ramblers shot 55-percent from the field as Cleveland State dropped its fourth straight league game, an 81-75 decision at Loyola on Saturday.
The loss is the fourth straight for the Vikings, dropping them to 8-13 overall and 4-7 in Horizon League play. The Ramblers, which ended a six-game home stand, improved to 13-8 overall and 5-6 in league action.
"The effort was there tonight, but the results just didn't follow," head coach Mike Garland said. "Every time we had a chance to either tie or take the lead, Loyola stepped up and made a big stop and Schilb scored at the other end.
"It's disappointing because we have played pretty well on this road trip but don't have anything to show for it. When crunch time comes, we aren't able to get over the hump."
After dominating play over the first 15 minutes, the Vikings were forced to play catch-up over the final 25 minutes. Although CSU never trailed by more than six points in the second half, the Vikings would also never take the lead.
Ije Nwankwo paced the Vikings with 20 points while J'Nathan Bullock added 17 points and Patrick Tatham chipping in with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Raheem Moss rounded out the CSU double-digit scorers with 11, but made just three of his 11 shots from beyond the arc.
Schilb was outstanding, going 10-of-16 from the field and five-of-eight from three-point. He added a game-high six assists.
"Blake is Loyola's go-to guy and when they needed a basket tonight, he came through. He was the difference tonight," Garland said.
The Vikings jumped out quickly, scoring the first eight points of the game in the opening 68 seconds. Nwankwo started with a lay-up inside. Victor Morris followed by making a steal and finding Moss open in the left corner in transition for a three-pointer. On CSU's next possession, Morris assisted on a Patrick Tatham trey to put the Vikings ahead, 8-0 with 18:52 left.
CSU would twice lead by nine points in the opening half. Frashon McGee gave the Vikings an 11-2 edge on a basket off an offensive rebound.
The second nine-point lead came at the 9:52 mark when Moss scored in transition off a pass from Carlos English, making it 23-14 Vikings.
Loyola would rally, as Schilb scored five points during a 7-0 Rambler run that knotted the score at 28-28 with 6:12 remaining.
Loyola took its first lead of the night when Schilb buried a long three-pointer from the top of the key, putting the Ramblers ahead, 33-30 with 5:37 left.
The Ramblers would remain in the lead for the rest of the half with CSU closing to 38-37 at the intermission when J'Nathan Bullock rebounded a missed Loyola shot with five seconds left and then went coast-to-coast, laying it in as the buzzer sounded.
CSU tied the game at 40-40 in the opening two minutes of the second half when Tatham made one-of-two free throws with 18:33 left. The Ramblers then ran off four straight, including a perimeter field goal by Majak Kou with 16:01 left that put Loyola ahead, 44-40.
The Vikings fought back to tie the game at 44-44 with 14:15 left, but Loyola ran off five straight - on a three-pointer by Schilb and a layup by Kou.
Cleveland State appeared to take its first lead of the second half when Carlos English connected on a long three-pointer to tie the game at 54-54 and Tatham came up with a steal at the other end. Tatham started the break, finding Moss alone in the right corner for a three-pointer that would have given CSU a 57-54 lead, but the shot was waved off as Tatham was called for a charging foul.
Loyola scored five straight points to rebuild its lead and CSU would come no closer than three points in the final five minutes. As they did in a 77-60 win in Cleveland earlier this year, the Ramblers hit all six free throws in the final two minutes to put the game away.
CSU had another strong offensive effort, shooting .464 from the field (26-56), but that was not enough as Loyola became the third team to shoot better than 50-percent against the Vikings this year, making 31 of its 56 field goal attempts (.554).
The Vikings return to action next week when they close the current three-game road swing with an 8:00 p.m. game at Butler on Wednesday, February 8.
