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Heartbreaking Loss on Senior Night

2/27/03
by John C. Thomas
Assemble a group of poets, sports historians, philosophers, and ethicists. Put them to work for a year, devising the most insidious, heartbreaking scenario possible. The best they could come up with would likely be something shy of Loyola's 66-65 last second loss to UIC on Thursday night at the Gentile Center.

Aaron Carr's dagger of a three-pointer pierced the hearts of five Loyola seniors and most of the crowd of 5,392 as it found the bottom of the net simultaneously with the buzzer.

Loyola started the game with the five seniors on the court: David Bailey, Vas Tsimpliarids, Justin Coons, Corey Minnifield, and Kevin Clancy. After Bailey scored the first two points on free throws, UIC's Kyle Kickert scored five points of his own in the first three minutes. Kickert had two put-backs and one free throw in the first three minutes, forging a UIC lead that would last most of the first half.

UIC's lead extended to six points at 18-13 with 11:34 left in the first half before Demetrius Williams and Paul McMillan finally began to take over the inside game. With six first-half points from McMillan and seven points from Louis Smith, Loyola tied the game at 35-all going into halftime.

Yet again, Loyola struggled coming out of the break. UIC streaked out to a 50-43 lead with 11:45 left to play, and the borderline calls seemed to be going UIC's way. David Bailey came out of the game for a minute or two, but the change in Loyola's game didn't shake the Flames.

Loyola went on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 52-all with 6:55 left to play. But UIC quickly answered with four points to forge a 56-52 lead in just :45. Loyola closed to within 61-60 with 3:29 left, but the Flames never folded. Loyola again creeped to within 63-62 with 2:35 left, but defense took over on both sides.

Corey Minnifield forced a jump ball with 1:22 left and the score knotted at 63-62. Loyola worked their offense down by one point, and had more than one chance.. With only 23.5 seconds left, Loyola turned the ball over, and it seemed like it was UIC's game.

But UIC turned the ball right back over, and Kevin Clancy fed the ball to David Bailey, who shoveled a pass to Paul McMillan for a dunk, giving Loyola a 64-63 lead. With 11.1 left on the clock, UIC ran a play that resulted in an offensive foul against Corey Minnifield under the basket. Loyola had two free throws with 3.8 seconds left and a one-point lead.

With the largest crowd ever at the Gentile Center besides the Michigan State crowd, with Senior Night honoring Bailey, Minnifield, Clancy, and the rest, and with the emotion of the play, the Ramblers went way overboard.

Just two weeks earlier, Loyola ran a play with 2.8 seconds left to beat Wright State at the buzzer. Two days before that, Loyola had a potentially game winning shot at the buzzer that rattled off the rim in the loss to Youngstown State.

So, with a one-point lead and Corey Minnifield going to the line, the Loyola players began celebrating at home, on senior night, before the largest crowd they'd ever had in their own right. When David Bailey whipped his hands up, it was the loudest volume ever achieved at the Gentile Center-including the standing room sellout of 5,500 against Michigan State.

After the commotion, Corey Minnifield missed the front end of his two shots. Sources tell me that at that point, Kevin Clancy told the refs that Loyola wanted a time out after the second free throw. Minnifield made the second free throw, but the refs did not grant time out, and some of the Loyola players didn't play defense, assuming that a time out would be called.

The ball was inbounded immediately, because UIC didn't have any time outs left, and a pass went to Cedrick Banks, who passed ahead to a completely open Aaron Carr for a perfect game-winning three-pointer as the buzzer sounded. Empty the UIC student section on to the court. Huge celebration. Again.

Huge hurt. Massive hurt. Aching hurt. I think the janitors had to sweep hearts off the floor.

The finish of the game was mysterious to me. I can think of five or six scenarios that would have ended up differently. Miss the second free throw on purpose, foul the player in the backcourt, etc. But all of them point back to the assumption that we had a time out after the second free throw.

God Bless UIC. They have targeted us as their notch up the ladder as we used to view DePaul as our barometer for success. The difference between them and us is that they had a realistic target in mind, and we were hoping for amends between the athletic departments.