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¡Ocho!--- Ouch!

1/29/04
by John C. Thomas
Loyola scored five points in the final 5.1 seconds of the game in a valiant comeback attempt, and LU had their hands on the ball under their own basket at the buzzer. But the comeback fell one point shy of sending the game to overtime as the Ramblers lost at Youngstown State Thursday night, 76-75. The loss is the eighth in a row for the Ramblers, and drops Loyola to eighth place in the Horizon League behind YSU.

LU came out on fire, seemingly determined to keep from tying the longest losing streak in 11 seasons. All five starters scored a bucket in the first three minutes as the Ramblers took a 10-2 lead with 17:25 left to play in the half.

But as the Ramblers’ shooting cooled, the Pens chipped away at the lead. The hosts took the lead at 23-22 with 9:50 left in the half, and took advantage of unforced Loyola turnovers to extend the lead through the end of the half. Amid taunting of Coach Larry Farmer by some YSU fans, the Pens extended their lead to 45-35 in the final minute before a late LU bucket sent the teams to the locker room with YSU holding a 45-37 lead.

The Ramblers made some adjustments to the defense at the half and used defensive pressure in the backcourt to climb back into the game. The Ramblers tied it up at 51 with 13:00 left, before the two teams began an almost comical series of back-and-forth lead changes. The two teams exchanged eight one-point leads from the 5:15 mark until Brian Radakovich hit a three-pointer to give YSU a 72-70 lead with :35 left. Seconds later, Demetrius Williams turned the ball over on an offensive foul, and the Pens hit four free throws to open the lead to 76-70 with :20 remaining.

But the Ramblers scored a quick two on a Paul McMillan hoop, stole the inbound pass and fed DaJuan Gouard for a three, and got their mitts on the inbound pass under the basket with .5 seconds left. Not enough time to control the ball and shoot, though-- so the Ramblers fall by a close margin at YSU for the second year in a row.

The Ramblers were led by Williams, who scored a game high 18 points. Paul McMillan had 16 points to go with nine boards, Blake Schilb had 13 points and nine boards while dishing a game-high seven assists, and DaJuan Gouard had 12 points.

For the sixth time in the past seven games, an opposing player had a career high in points. This time it was junior forward Radakovich, who scored five of his team-high 17 points in the final 35 seconds of the game.

The loss drops the Ramblers into sole possession of eighth place in the league, and represents the longest regular season league losing streak since the Ramblers lost 10 league contests in a row as part of a 12-game losing streak in 1993. The current eight game losing streak ties the longest in the Larry Farmer era; Ken Burmeister had three eight game losing streaks in his first two seasons at the helm of the Ramblers.

Although the Ramblers return home for their next game, it promises to be a difficult matchup against the Detroit Titans Saturday afternoon at the Gentile Center. Game time is 1:00 p.m.