CHICAGO – Loyola Chicago finished the first half on a roll and continued that into the second stanza, ultimately scoring a 77-53 victory over the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team Tuesday night in the Windy City.

Melvin Council Jr. led the Bonnies with 13 points while Chance Moore added 11 and Jonah Hinton chipped in 10.

Offense was at a premium for the visitors, though, as they shot 38 percent from the floor overall while watching Loyola soar to a 72 percent success rate (18-25) in the second half and nearly 60 percent for the game.

St. Bonaventure (17-7, 5-6 A-10) went ice cold from the floor in the first half as a seven-minute drought from the field allowed Loyola to take a double digit advantage, 22-12, with six minutes left before the break.

The Bonnies turned the tide with a 12-3 run to get back within a point, but the momentum didn't last long as the Ramblers finished the half on an 8-0 break to run to intermission with a 33-24 advantage.  

Loyola remained on the attack out of the locker room, extending their roll with a 14-2 sprint to roar ahead, 51-30, just over six minutes in.

From there, the Ramblers never looked back.

Loyola drained 11 3-pointers and assisted on 24 of 31 made field goals overall.

Des Watson posted 17 points while Miles Rubin scored 15 to lead Loyola (14-8, 5-4).

GAME NOTES

• Tuesday's game was a rematch of a classic double overtime win for the Bonnies over Loyola Chicago in last year's Atlantic 10 quarterfinals. The Ramblers evened the all-time series at 4-4 while the Bonnies are 0-2 at Gentile Arena.
• Bona entered the day averaging just over 10 turnovers per game for the season, but committed 16 on Tuesday night.
• Noel Brown did not record a field goal for the first time all season.
• Duane Thompson registered six points off the bench while Noah Bolanga finished with five.
• Loyola won the battle of the boards 33-23 and finished +10 in the paint (38-28). It was just the second time this season that the Bonnies have been outscored in the painted area with the only other occurrence coming by just a -2 margin vs. La Salle.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"We cut it to six in the second half, but they were just more physical than us. We're not going to win many games when Noel doesn't have a field goal."

"We played decent defense in the first half, but then they got on a run and our offense stalled. They were getting runouts and stuff. We were always on our heels and they were attacking us. When a team is more physical than you, you're not going to have good results."

"We couldn't get the ball inside; our offense started 40 feet from the basket and we just didn't have any answers. Now we have to bounce back and defend our home court."
 
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure hosts home action on Super Bowl Sunday, welcoming George Washington for a noon tip in the Reilly Center. It will be the third consecutive national TV game for the Bonnies and will air on USA Network.

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