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LU Wins on Road, Without Bailey

12/03/02
by John C. Thomas
Tired, banged-up, and notoriously unsure on the road, Loyola went to Corpus Christi to face the Islanders on Tuesday night. TAMU-CC was 20-7 at home over the two-plus years they've been in their building, and Loyola was without leading scorer David Bailey for the first game since he arrived at LU in 1999. But the Ramblers made a statement about dealing with adversity by pounding TAMU-CC 94-77.

The two and a half hour flight to the Texas Coast turned into an 18-hour odyssey because of weather problems. The Ramblers slept most of the night at the airport in Chicago, and arrived in Texas after 6:00 a.m. on game day. In what was billed as the highlight of the TAMU-CC schedule, the adversity Loyola endured seemed to help the visitors.

Loyola built a 20-point lead on the basis of 57% shooting (60% from behind the arc) late in the first half. Corpus Christi remained within screaming distance only on the basis of their huge free throw advantage. By the time the buzzer sounded for halftime, Loyola had notched 50 points to TAMU-CC's 33, and the Ramblers doubled up the Islanders on the boards.

Seven players scored for Loyola in the first half, and five of them had seven or more points. Terrance Whiters led LU with 13 points at the break in his substitute start for David Bailey.

After the break, Loyola briefly extended their lead to 61-37 with 16:32 left to play. But the substitution patterns were not as sharp or fortuitous in the second half, and the Islanders whittled away at the lead, cutting the gap to only six points with 5:49 left in the game.

That's when Terrance Whiters, Kevin Clancy, Paul McMillan and Demetrius Williams came up big. Clancy scored 12 of his career-high 19 points late in the second half, made some big rebounds, and played great defense. Whiters matched his first half effort both offensively and defensively, McMillan his some big crunch baskets, and Demetrius Williams pounded the boards and notched eight points. Loyola ended the game with a 19-8 run over the last five and a half minutes. All five starters scored in double figures.

The player of the game was undoubtedly Terrance Whiters. In just his fourth college game, making his first start of his career, he played with the poise, patience and savvy of a senior. He ended the night with 26 points (on 7-of-11 shooting), five assists, five rebounds, and four steals. With Bailey out, there was some pressure on Whiters to perform, and he did so as well as someone could reasonably expect from you-know-who.

Paul McMillan, who performed so poorly on the boards at Northern Illinois, also stepped up his game with a fierce double-double-15 points and 11 boards. Demetrius Williams joined him in the double-double category with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Kevin Clancy had the best game of his college career: 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, 6-of-6 from the foul line (most of it down the stretch when the game was tightening), four rebounds (two offensive), and five assists against two turnovers. And in a category for which there is no stat, he helped Terrance Whiters to manage the tempo of the game, set up plays, and keep the defense well-organized. It's a typical line for Clancy, just a little more clutch because of the circumstances-road game, no Bailey, organizing many newcomers, etc.

Brian Evans led TAMU-CC with 27 points, most of them during an attempt to come back from a 24-point deficit. And forward Charles Lampkin added 19 points for TAMU-CC to go with his team-leading five rebounds. Loyola out-rebounded the Islanders for the game, 47-25.

This game was exactly what the Ramblers needed going into the home contest with Valpo on Saturday: a road win to get the monkey off their backs for the year, a nice team-oriented blowout, and a bonding experience under adversity to get all the players fighting for the same thing. It also proves that this team has many more weapons than David Bailey if they believe in themselves- and this win shows they can believe in themselves.

But let's not go crazy. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is NOT anywhere close to Valpo. They might be barely better than the team at the bottom of the HL. Still, it's nice to win on the road, especially for LU fans.

Valpo is having a down year, but they're still eminently capable of taking advantage of the mistakes of others, and TAMU-CC whipped Loyola 23-18 in the turnover comparison. The bright spots headed into the next game are these facts: the Ramblers have bonded, they're coming home for two games, and they've learned they can win without David Bailey.