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Good, Tough Win

11/25/02
by John C. Thomas
David Bailey shot the lights out, Louis Smith had his first career double-double, and freshman Terrance Whiters notched eight points in crunch time to give Loyola an 88-84 victory over Bradley Monday night at the Gentile Center. The Loyola victory in their home opener was a sloppy, physical, graceful and exhilarating game all at once- and the emotional stakes were plainly evident.

Loyola was thought to be on their heels entering the game just three days after a loss to lowly-regarded Loyola Marymount. Meanwhile, Bradley was flying high under a new coach, and had just defeated Pepperdine in overtime at home. Bradley's new coach is Jim Les of Chicago's Notre Dame High School, and the game was also big for Loyola senior guard Kevin Clancy, formerly of Notre Dame High School and Bradley University.

After Loyola notched a 12-10 lead, Bradley came back with a 16-0 run to take a 26-12 lead with about 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The Braves used a 3-2 zone to power their surge, but when David Bailey returned to the game from a breather, Loyola countered with an 11-0 run of their own.

When David Bailey connected on an open three pointer to cut the Bradley lead to 35-34 with 3:13 remaining in the first half, a scuffle erupted under the basket. Loyola's Demetrius Williams and Bradley's Marcello Robinson started exchanging blows under the basket. After a review on the TV monitors, both were ejected.

The altercation and the delay (during which Loyola fans started chanting "LU") seemed to fire up the Ramblers. LU brought out the press in the absence of the Bradley point guard, and the Ramblers surged to a 45-42 halftime lead.

Loyola was befuddled by a different zone defense in the opening minutes of the second half. After assuming a 47-42 lead, the Ramblers were outscored 15-4 over the next six minutes, and trailed 57-51 with 13:29 left to play. That's when Bailey, Paul McMillan and Whiters got hot. Loyola countered with a 9-2 run of their own to take a 60-59 lead with 9:51 left, and slowly padded the lead to 76-66 by the time 3:48 was left.

Three minutes and 48 seconds is an eternity in college basketball, especially when both teams are in the bonus. Bradley played much smarter than Loyola down the stretch, and cut LU's lead to 76-70 over the next 90 seconds. After an exchange of three pointers and an LU turnover on a missed Louis Smith dunk, it was 82-79 with :29.2 left to play.

David Bailey and Terrance Whiters hit their free throws with perfection down the stretch to seal the victory-a very crucial victory.

Bailey had 19 points in the first half, and finished with a game-high 33 points. He came within one three pointer of tying the LU record for a single game, shooting 7-of-11 from behind the arc. Louis Smith had arguably the best game of his career, notching 16 points, and pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds in the absence of Demetrius Williams. Terrance Whiters, playing in his first official home game at LU, impressed just about everyone with his 12 points-eight of them coming in the final four minutes, including two devastating three-pointers and two crucial free throws. Wow!

And then there was Kevin Clancy-the former Bradley Brave that was expelled from the team. He got several ovations from fans of both teams for the heart he showed-seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a crunch-time traditional three point play. Clancy played so hard that he pulled up with a massive cramp in his left calf that was so tight it was visible from across the arena. I thought he had a torn tendon, because it looked like he had a fist under the skin of his calf. He later came back to play in the final minutes, and after the game he went into the stands to personally thank both Bradley and Loyola fans for coming to the game. Amazing.

Bradley's super soph Danny Grainger (named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week today) was limited in his playing time by fouls, but managed to lead the Braves with 11 rebounds, and scored 18 points. James Gillingham led the Braves on offense with 24 points.

With Bailey's 33-point performance, he now ranks 10th in Loyola history in scoring, passing Andre Battle and Keir Rogers.

This win was huge. Imagine heading into Northern Illinois' new building on Wednesday looking for your first win, as desperate as the hosts. Think about the coolness of freshman Terrance Whiters hitting those three pointers and the two free throws-and think about how big Louis Smith came up for Loyola in this game with the leading rebounder disqualified.

The win was big not only because it got us out of the losing column, but because it showed what everyone was capable of and gave the newcomers some confidence. Now, if we could just play some solid defense on a consistent basis, we'll be in business.

View pictures from this game on the front page of Ramblermania. Click on picture page 23 and 24.