CHICAGO, Ill. (January 25, 2023)
 
In Short…
Despite a season-high 25 points from Phil Alston, the Loyola University Chicago (7-13, 1-7 A-10) men's basketball team dropped a 72-58 road decision at Duquesne Wednesday evening inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
Alston finished 8-for-15 from the field and 5-for-10 from three, setting a new career high for 3-point field goals.
 
The Rambles led by nine at the break, but an early Duquesne run to start the second half pull the Dukes back into the contest. Duquesne would end the game on a 7-0 run to pull away with the victory.
 
How It Happened
The Ramblers came out guns blazing, starting 5-of-6 from the field to take a 13-5 lead. Philip Alston connected on a pair of 3-pointers early while Ben Schwieger chipped in a third to give the Ramblers the early lead.
 
Duquesne climbed back even at 13-all before Braden Norris drilled Loyola's fourth 3-pointer in the first 6+ minutes to give the Ramblers a 16-13 lead. The Loyola advantage would balloon to 26-15 thanks to triples from Norris and Alston.
 
Alston was on fire early, scored 13 of Loyola's first 26 points, going 5-of-8 from the field and 3-for-5 from deep. Behind the strength of 6-for-12 shooting from deep, the Ramblers held a 26-17 with 7:56 remaining in the opening half.
 
The Dukes battled back to get within a pair at 28-26, but six unanswered by the Ramblers pushed the lead back to eight. Bryce Golden connected on back-to-back layups before Jacob Hutson got into the action with a floater in the lane.
 
A 5-0 Loyola run to end the half gave the Ramblers a 40-31 lead at the break. Alston led the way with 17 points as Loyola shot 51.6% from the field over the first 20 minutes.
 
Duquesne clamped down defensively to open the second half, as Loyola burned a timeout at the 13:16 mark after having not score in the second half. The off shooting by the Ramblers allowed Duquesne to score the first 10 points of the half and take a 41-40 lead, but a bucket out of the timeout by Tom Welch put the Ramblers in the second-half scoring column and back in front, 42-41.
 
The teams battled back and forth, with the Dukes maintaining a slim 50-49 lead with 7:47 remaining in the game. A 3-pointer from Alston, his fifth of the game, gave the junior 23 in the game and put the Ramblers back in front, 52-50 with just under seven minutes left in the game.
 
A quick 7-0 spurt by the Dukes put Duquesne in front by a 59-54 margin and forced the Ramblers to burn a timeout with 4:12 remaining.
 
Inside The Box Score

• After starting 6-of-12 from 3-point range, the Ramblers closed the game 8-for-25 from deep.
• Jalen Quinn finished with a season-high five assists and tied for the team lead with Norris.
• The Dukes were clutch from the free throw line, finishing 13-of-14 from the charity stripe.
• Duquesne took advantage in transition, outscoring Loyola 14-0 in fast break points.

Up Next
Loyola gets nearly a week break between games, returning to action on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at Dayton. Tip-off on CBS Sports Network is set for 8 p.m. (CT).