Feb. 6, 2010
Recap | Box Score
Post-Game Quotes
Cleveland State 59, Loyola 56
February 6, 2010
Loyola Head Coach Jim Whitesell
Opening statement
"It was a tough loss. I thought our guys really started the game well and then Cleveland State got after us. We finished the half really well and then we started the second half really well. We were up 49-40 with nine minutes to go, but then it seemed like we couldn't score a lot after that and they kept going to the free throw line. Half court-wise, we just couldn't get stops. We had our chances. We had plenty of chances to win the game over and over again. Congratulations to Cleveland State. I thought our guys played awfully hard and with a lot of effort, we just didn't get it done."
On Ben Averkamp's play
"I thought Ben played really well. I thought he had good activity, I thought we kept him fresh and I thought he did a nice job for us. He played how we want him to and expect him to. I thought defensively he really helped us and shored up a lot of things and really understood the game plan and did a nice job on it."
On the team's points of improvement
"That's the one thing I was disappointed with - our defense in the first half. That, and we had running opportunities that we never converted and turned it over. Cleveland State is very good with steals, they do a good job of back-tapping and did a great job of that tonight. Believe me, we were trying to get the ball inside, but obviously we didn't convert. When you're up nine, you kind of feel like you're going to get it going and your players are going to get to that next level, but we couldn't get to that next level to give ourselves a little more breathing room. I think that's just part of basketball, you have to stay with it."
Loyola Sophomore Forward Walt Gibler
On the team's post play
"We tried to take advantage of it at times and I think it helps that we were able to get it inside and we were able to kick it out. I think Terrance (Hill) and Courtney (Stanley) hit some good threes, so I think we tried to play off that and take advantage of the mismatches."
