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Awkward Start in the Tournament

3/04/03
by John C. Thomas
In the first ever conference tournament game on a home Loyola court, a sleepy crowd of 1,146 watched an uninspired Loyola team play down to the competition. With the lowly Vikings tied up with the Ramblers at 34-all in the second half, Loyola senior guard David Bailey again hoisted the team on his shoulders and led the Ramblers to a 69-57 win on a snowy Tuesday night at the Gentile Center.

Loyola and CSU slogged through a death march of a first half that saw the Ramblers unable to make an outside shot against the Viking zone. Only the futility of the Vikings and LU's dominance on the offensive boards allowed Loyola to enter the halftime break with a precarious 25-21 lead.

The Ramblers looked like they were ready to take control for good coming out of the break. Loyola reeled off an 8-4 run in the opening 3:12 of the second half, capped by a Kevin Clancy three pointer. But CSU roared back with a 9-1 run of their own to tie the game at 34 with 14:48 left to play.

That's when David Bailey took over. Bailey came off the bench to score seven points in Loyola's 10-0 run that gave the Ramblers a lead they would never relinquish at 44-34 with 12:07 left.

Cleveland State closed to within 47-41 with 8:45 remaining, but a Bailey pass to Corey Minnifield for a thunderous dunk off the alley-oop at the 4:06 mark gave Loyola a 57-44 margin and put an exclamation point on the win.

Bailey led all scorers with 23 points and added seven assists. The 5'8" senior guard passed the 1900 mark in all time points, finishing the game with 1905 in his career. Demetrius Williams had 14 points to go with eight boards, and Paul McMillan had 13 points and eight boards. Tahric Gosley came off the bench to lead CSU with 16 points and all rebounders with 10.

It was an ugly, uninspired game that Loyola needed to get out of their system before facing what could be the league's most dangerous team right now, Detroit. The Titans have not lost a game since falling at Loyola on February 20, 76-64.

But as everyone knows, the Ramblers are not the same team on the road. And of all the teams in the conference (except for the quasi-home team, Milwaukee) the one I'd least like to face is our next opponent. Hopefully that uninspired effort, mystifying substitution patterns, and brutal outside shooting woes are behind the Ramblers.

I didn't see many moments where the Ramblers learned anything in this game, with the possible exception of baptizing Terrance Whiters into the post-season pressure. Whiters looked nervous, hesitant to shoot, and panicky throughout the game. David Bailey looked like the only Rambler willing to take a shot for long stretches. Who will be the go-to guy next year?

If the Ramblers can survive Detroit, I like our chances. To do so, everyone on the team will have to play a lot better than tonight.