CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (February 26, 2022)
 
In Short
Loyola University Chicago's (22-7, 13-5 MVC) bid for a fourth Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship fell short as host Northern Iowa (18-10, 14-4 MVC) outlasted the Ramblers, 102-96, in overtime, to claim the league crown. Loyola has finished no worse than second place in The Valley in each of the last five seasons.
 
How It Happened
The first half was played at a frenetic pace and both teams shot the ball with remarkable efficiency. Northern Iowa accounted for nine of the game's first 11 tallies and led 16-8 before five straight points from Ryan Schwieger, who had 15 points in the half, and a Tom Welch layup chopped the deficit down to a point, at 16-15.
 
After the teams exchanged baskets, the Panthers got eight points from Noah Carter in a 10-0 spurt that extended the hosts' edge to 28-17, their largest of the period.
 
Trailing 40-24 late in the half, Loyola benefited from triples by Braden Norris and Tate Hall and got a pair of layups from Chris Knight in a 10-4 run that knotted the score at 44-44 with 1:37 remaining in the half, and the teams would eventually head into the break all tied up at 46-46.
 
Loyola connected on 57.1 percent (16-for-28) of its shots, including 7-of-13 (.538) from three-point range in the first 20 minutes, while UNI was just as efficient, draining 60 percent (18-for-30) of its field goal tries and 50 percent (4-for-8) of its treys.
 
A Lucas Williamson triple and a Schwieger layup put Loyola back on top early in the second period, at 55-53 and minutes later, the Ramblers got a pair of treys from Aher Uguak and another from Keith Clemons as part of a 9-2 burst that upped the lead to 69-60.
 
Northern Iowa, which had just one field goal over an eight-minute stretch in the half, battled its way back, eventually evening the score at 79-79 on a pair of Noah Carter foul shots.
 
The game was back and forth until Williamson sank a pair of free throws for an 87-85 Loyola advantage, but AJ Green's bucket with 29 seconds evened the score and Green missed a chance to put the Panthers ahead when he misfired on a free throw after being fouled on the basket.
 
Loyola had two chances in the closing seconds, but came up empty, forcing an extra session. In the overtime, Green's freebies temporarily put UNI ahead, but Norris knocked down a long three from the top of the key to give the Ramblers a short-lived 90-89 edge.
 
On the next possession, Green's three from the right wing moved UNI back in front and Bowen Born added a jumper two minutes later to extend the UNI advantage to 94-90 with 2:09 remaining in overtime
 
A Look at the Numbers

• Williamson led the way for Loyola with a career-best 29 points and corralled nine rebounds, while Schwieger totaled 17 points.
• Norris notched his first double-double as a Rambler, finishing with 13 points, 10 boards, eight assists and three steals.
• Chris Knight added 13 points for the Ramblers, who were whistled for 32 fouls on the night.
• Green went for 32 points to lead all scorers.

 
Up Next
Loyola will be the No. 4 seed and face No.5 seed Bradley at 2:30 pm on Friday , March 4 in the quarterfinal round of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.