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DaJuan's Big Day Rescues Ramblers

1/31/04
by John C. Thomas
With the Ramblers’ backcourt banged up and the team desperate to end an eight game losing streak on Coach Larry Farmer’s 53rd birthday, someone had to step forward for Loyola. DaJuan Gouard annihilated his career high with 27 points, including seven of the Ramblers’ 10 points in overtime, in Loyola’s dramatic 80-77 win Saturday afternoon at the Gentile Center.

The Ramblers held the Titans to only five points in the first five and a half minutes, but Loyola could only manage three points of their own. After the Titans took a 13-7 lead with 13:02 remaining in the first half, the Ramblers turned the tempo of the game to their liking and answered with a 25-10 run over a seven minute span to take a 32-23 lead with five and a half minutes left.

The Ramblers apparently felt that 32 points was enough for the half, because the Titans scored the next 11 points in a row. Detroit finished the half with a 17-3 run capped by a Willie Wallace three pointer just before the buzzer. It was Wallace’s first three pointer of the season and gave Detroit a 40-35 advantage going into the locker room.

Loyola fought back to tie the game at 50 all with 10 minutes left to play in regulation, and traded baskets with the Titans over the next few minutes. With the score tied at 54 all and just over six minutes left on the clock, the Titans went on a 12-2 run to take what looked like an insurmountable 66-56 lead with only 2:20 remaining.

Coming just two days after the Ramblers nearly overcame a six point lead in the final 36 seconds against Youngstown State, Coach Farmer trotted out the full court press a little earlier against the Titans. It paid huge dividends.

Louis Smith cut the Titan lead to seven with a three pointer and 1:39 left to play. Seconds later, DaJuan Gouard stole a pass, made a layup and a free throw to cut the Titan lead to 66-62 with 1:08 remaining. After a quick foul and two Wallace free throws, the Ramblers got a very quick bucket and made another foul. Eli Warren put the Titans up 70-64 with just 55 ticks left, but after a quick LU hoop Rulon Harris missed the front end of a one and one, and Louis Smith’s three point play cut the deficit to 70-69 with :36.1 left to play.

The Titans called a time out before inbounding the ball, but Demetrius Williams’ long arms found the pass, and the Ramblers held the ball for the final 34 seconds with the shot clock off. With the game clock winding down, DaJuan Gouard drove the lane with just three ticks left and missed a floater. Paul McMillan had great position under the basket and tried to go up with a shot and :00.3 left. P-Mac’s shot was blocked, but a foul put him at the free throw line with a chance to win the game in regulation.

McMillan, who went to the line 0-for-2 on the day at the foul line, missed the first. A Titan substitution gave Mac a few more seconds to think about it. And with the Loyola fans deathly quiet and the 200 or so Titan fans screaming their heads off, McMillan hit the second freebie to give the Ramblers life and a 70-70 score at the end of regulation.

DaJuan Gouard, who ecliped his former career high of 16 with 20 points in regulation, scored the first bucket of overtime to give Loyola their first lead since the last minute of the first half. Louis Smith added a free throw to give LU a 73-70 advantage, but the Titans roared back with three unanswered points to tie, and a 7-2 run to take a 77-75 lead with less than a minute left.

But Gouard wasn’t finished yet, and hit a devastating three pointer to put LU on top 78-77 with less than 30 ticks left in OT. Louis Smith rebounded a missed Titan three with 6.1 seconds left, and two Lou free throws provided the final margin.

What a massive, important, confidence-restoring win for the Ramblers. With Jason Telford (knee) and Majak Kou (toe) on the bench in street clothes and Terrance Whiters hurting, Gouard played with a mission. All five Rambler starters scored in double figures, and they had to-- Coach Farmer played only eight players, and got only two points off the bench in 45 minutes of basketball.

Gouard led all scorers with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 4-of-9 marksmanship from behind the arc. Blake Schilb had 13 points to go with seven boards and six assists. McMillan and Louis Smith had 13 each, and Demetrius Williams scored 12 points. Rulon Harris and James Theus led Detroit with 16 points each.

The Ramblers end their eight-game losing streak nightmare and improve to 3-7 in the league and 7-13 overall. Loyola also picks up a tiebreaker over Youngstown State, and inches closer to a group of teams competing for fifth and sixth place (and the resulting first round home game in the league tournament). But most important, the Ramblers regain some confidence just in time for two winnable games at Wright State and home against the Butler Bulldogs. It won’t be easy, especially in front of 6,000 fans at the Nutter Center, but two wins would put Loyola solidly back in the race for a home tournament game.

It has been a long way back from the nadir of the eight game losing streak, a heartless and embarrassing 18-point loss at Hinkle on January 15 and a lazy 15-point home loss to Wright State on January 17. But the Ramblers have slowly improved every game since. There is still time to gain an advantage going into what looks like the most wide-open league tournament in history. If the Ramblers can return Majak Kou and work him into the rotation, there is still hope for this unpredictable group of Ramblers.