Loyola Survives and Bradley Advances

(St. Louis, MO) – Loyola star Clayton Custer couldn’t buy a basket, but the Ramblers survived a quarterfinal tussle with Northern Iowa by the score of 54-50, and Bradley won narrow battle with Drake to join the Ramblers in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Custer like Evansville’s Ryan Taylor the day before, was completely stymied by the Panther defense. The league’s leading scorer (Taylor) and its Player of the Year Custer, were each held to two points by the stingy Panther D.

With Custer struggling before and after an ankle injury, the Ramblers had to find offense somewhere else and they found it in the rim attacking offensive moves by Marques Townes and the outside shooting of Donte Ingram. Each finished with 13 points. Senior guard Ben Richardson scored nine points, all in the second half.

Bradley trailed by eight points at the half, but prevailed 63-61 on a lay-up by Donte Thomas. The senior finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, but it was the explosive second half by Darrell Brown that carried the Braves forward.

Brown exploded for 17-second half points on the way to a game high total of 24.

The Braves who avenged two regular season losses to Drake, now face regular season champion Loyola. The Ramblers have won eight straight games, their last loss came at Bradley.

Do Good