PEORIA, Ill. (January 25, 2021)
In Short
Marquise Kennedy came off the bench to produce a team-high 18 points, while also grabbing nine rebounds, to spark Loyola University Chicago (13-3, 8-1 MVC) to a come-from-behind, 65-58 victory over Bradley (9-7, 3-4 MVC) tonight at Carver Arena. With the victory, the Ramblers, who used a decisive 12-2 run to take the lead in the second half, extend their win streak to six games, their longest positive stretch since taking 14 straight contests during the run to the NCAA Final Four during the 2017-18 season.
Coach Moser's Thoughts
"It was a gutty, gritty win. I thought Bradley played really well. I thought we got some tempo and confidence going and
Marquise Kennedy hit some big shots."
How It Happened
One night after Loyola got off to a quick start, sprinting out to a 22-2 lead, Bradley flipped the script, scoring the first eight points this evening to open up an early 8-0 lead. The Ramblers trailed 22-14 with 9:05 remaining in the half when
Keith Clemons drained his second three-pointer of the half to open up a 10-2 run that he punctuated with another triple to even the proceedings at 24-24.
But, Elijah Childs accounted for four points in Bradley's 5-1 half-closing spurt that gave the Braves a 29-25 lead at the intermission.
Loyola's offense mostly came via the long ball as six of its eight field goals in the opening period came from beyond the arc, with Clemons knocking down a trio of treys.
Bradley extended its to 37-27, its largest of the night, on a Ville Tahvanainen layup with 16:20 remaining in the contest and each time the Ramblers made a dent in the deficit, the Braves had an answer, until the closing minutes.
When Rienk Mast split a pair of foul shots to give Bradley a 50-43 advantage with 7:12 left to play, the Ramblers began to mount a decisive charge. A
Tom Welch free throw opened up a 12-2 run that was highlighted by three straight threes from
Marquise Kennedy,
Braden Norris and
Keith Clemons, the last of which gave the Ramblers their first lead of the game, at 53-52, with 4:36 left in regulation, and
Cameron Krutwig added a tip-in to move Loyola ahead, 55-52.
Following a Sean East basket that trimmed the Ramblers' lead to a single point, Kennedy scored four unanswered points to provide Loyola with some breathing room and a 59-54 advantage and Loyola would never look back on the way to its fourth straight road win.
A Look At The Numbers
- Kennedy just missed out on his first career double-double with 18 points and nine boards and also added a pair of assists and three steals in only 21 minutes of play. His 18 points are his most January 29, 2020, when he tossed in 18 points at Southern Illinois.
- Clemons had his best outing of the year as he continues to shine since moving back into the starting lineup five games ago. The senior guard totaled a season-high 15 points and had three boards and two steals tonight.
- Krutwig was limited to seven points, but with that total, moved into Loyola's career top 10 in scoring. The big man has recorded 1,605 points in his career, a figure that ranks 10thon the school's all-time chart.
- Loyola forced 18 Bradley turnovers for the game, and in the second half, pestered the Braves into just 35.7 percent (10-for-28) shooting from the field and a mere 15.4 percent (2-for-13) from three-point territory.
Up Next
Loyola continues a five-game road swing when it heads to Missouri State for games on January 31 and February 1.
