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Going in the Wrong Direction

12/20/03
by John C. Thomas
The Ramblers faced a tough test Saturday afternoon when Western Michigan visited the Gentile Center. The Broncos entered the game ranked #22 in the Sagarin Ratings and in the top 30 in the RPI after knocking off four teams from major conferences. The Ramblers held a four-point lead at halftime on the strength of 18 points from freshman Blake Schilb, but it all unraveled quickly in the second half as the Broncos bucked Loyola 79-61.

The game broke well early for the Ramblers as WMU’s leading scorer Mike Williams picked up two quick fouls and had to sit out the majority of the first half. Sloppy play on both sides kept the scoring down, and the Ramblers trailed only 12-9 eight and a half minutes into the game in spite of making six turnovers.

Loyola trailed 22-17 with 5:45 left in the half when Blake Schilb found the range from behind the arc. The 6’7” freshman small forward buried four threes down the stretch as Loyola outscored the Broncos 18-9 over the final five and a half minutes to lead 35-31 at the half. The Ramblers helped their cause by coughing up only two turnovers through the final 11 minutes of the period.

Schilb doubled his career high in points in the first half alone, pouring in 18 points while snagging five boards and dishing four assists against zero turnovers. But as usually happens when one player scores more than half a team’s early points, the opposition will make adjustments.

The Ramblers came out of halftime as though nothing whatsoever had been learned from their preceding 20 minutes of basketball. Unfortunately, the Broncos apparently learned a lot. Within the first three minutes of the half, WMU staged a 7-0 run, took the lead, and forced turnovers on three of the Ramblers’ first four possessions. The Ramblers would fight back to tie, but never again see that hard-fought lead.

WMU’s leading scorer Mike Williams, scoreless in the first half, took over the game for the Broncos in the middle of the second half. With the Broncos clinging to a 49-47 lead with 11:20 left in the game, Williams scored eight of WMU’s points on an 11-0 run that put the visitors up 60-47 with 8:20 left. He finished with 18 points on 9-of-16 shooting

Loyola never again breached a double-digit Bronco lead as the experienced and disciplined Broncos managed the clock like they had a patent on time. The dagger came with WMU up 67-54 with three and a half minutes to play. They ran off the full clock and hit a mildly contested deuce at the shot clock buzzer.

While Schilb had the kind of day that folks will remember for some time, most of the rest of the team had the kind of afternoon they’re only likely to relive in nightmares. Paul McMillan was often triple-teamed, and had a career low two points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field. DaJuan Gouard was 1-of-7 from the field to account for a season-low two points. Demetrius Williams had only two points, both coming from the free throw line where he was 2-of-8. The Ramblers also dropped their league worst free throw percentage by making only 13 of their 27 freebie attempts. The entire starting lineup only dented the scoreboard for 25 points, and 11 of those came on a career high by Anthony Smith-- yes, Anthony Smith.

Since their ugly but nevertheless impressive win at Valparaiso, the Ramblers seem to be getting progressively worse each game. The Ramblers have lost three in a row overall, and two in a row at home. The losing margin in those games has been 2, 16, and 18 points.

Western Michigan may be the best team we will play until we meet Providence in late January. Even so, an 18-point loss at home and a paltry 25 points from the starting lineup indicates there is something seriously wrong with the current plan of attack. With this kind of performance at Providence, we could lose by 50.

Hopefully, there will be some serious renovations in the Gentile Center by Tuesday, when the Ramblers face Central Michigan at 7:00 p.m.