CHICAGO – Loyola Chicago won its fourth straight game after downing Dayton Friday night in Gentile Arena, 76-72. Des Watson led all-scorers with 22 points. It marks his fifth 20-point performance of the season.
 
With the win, Loyola sits at 18-9 overall and 9-5 in Atlantic 10 play. The Ramblers are in sole possession of third in the standings after knocking off the Flyers.
 
"Tonight was awesome. We don't win at home without that home crowd tonight," said head coach Drew Valentine. "We're a hard team to beat here. Shout out to our students, other athletes and staff for showing up. The place was rocking.
 
"I gotta give our guys credit because they continue to find ways to win. We made some stops down the stretch that really helped us out. We have to stop the late-game fouling, but we grow from it and hopefully it will make us better come March."
 
How It Happened
Dayton went up 4-0 in the opening two minutes with Nate Santos striking first. Miles Rubin heated up early, tying the game twice over the next four minutes before snagging Loyola's first lead on an alley-oop dunk with 14:26 on the clock, 8-6. The Ramblers held on to a lead through the mid-way point. Jalen DeLoach put Loyola ahead by five at the 10:41 mark, but the Flyers responded with a 9-0 run to regain a lead, 19-15.
 
Another Rubin oop halted the run, and the Ramblers and Flyers traded baskets until Watson scored four of six unanswered points swinging momentum back in Loyola's favor for the remainder of the half with 4:12 to play. DeLoach and Jayden Dawson went for back-to-back buckets in the final two minutes. Dawson's was a step-back three, the first for Loyola, and gave the Ramblers a six-point edge. Dayton had one final look for the half, and Loyola led at the break, 34-31.
 
A little over five minutes in, Loyola built its lead to double-digits. Rubin sparked the offense with a dunk less than 20 seconds in, while Sheldon Edwards Jr. scored five straight. Watson would deliver the dagger from deep to go up 10 at the 14:48 mark. The Ramblers took their largest least of the night with 10:54 to go on a wild second-chance tipped in layup by DeLoach, 56-43.
 
They Flyers got the lead back to single-digits and slowly chipped away. Santos cut it to six on a second-chance layup and later scored five straight to get Dayton within two with 4:31 to play. It was the first of three times the Flyers would get within two of the Ramblers in the final minutes. Edwards Jr. gave Loyola some security and a five-point edge with a fast break three down the stretch, while Rubin had two big blocks in the final two minutes. Loyola hung on to win, 76-72.  
 
Inside the Box Score
- Watson finished with 22 points on 8-14 from the field, 2-4 from deep, and 4-4 at the line. He added five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
- It marks the fifth 20-point outing for Watson this season, tying Dawson as the team leader.
- Rubin scored 14 points on 6-8 from the field. He added recorded rebounds, three assists, and four blocks.
- Quinn scored 11, while Edwards Jr. and DeLoach scored 10 each.
- Edwards Jr. and Kymany Houinsou tallied a team-leading six rebounds each. Houinsou also led Loyola with six assists.
- The Ramblers recorded 19 assists on 27 makes.
- Loyola shot 50 percent from the field (27-54) and drained just five threes.
- The Ramblers led in the paint (32-28) and the bench outscored Dayton's (22-9).
- Loyola held Dayton to 38.7 percent from the field (24-62) and only six made threes.
- The Ramblers have now won 21 of its last 22 games at home, improving to 14-1 this season.
 
Up Next
Loyola and George Washington tip-off at Gentile at 7 p.m. Feb. 26.