TRIBE 61, LOYOLA (CHICAGO) 64
The College of William and Mary came up short again on the road.
A 16-point first half put the Tribe (3-5) in a deep hole against Loyola of Chicago (4-4) in a 64-61 loss Tuesday night — its fourth road defeat of the season.
The College’s fourth-lowest scoring half under Head Coach Tony Shaver and a 10:26 span without a field goal allowed the Ramblers to build a working margin, eventually extending the lead to 15 points with 19:20 remaining in the game.
“If we make our lay-ups or our free throws, we win,” Shaver said following the game on Tribe Radio.
“We were fortunate to have a shot to win it.”
The Tribe put together a series of scoring spurts in the second half to keep itself in the game, after a first half in which the College hit just 28 percent of its shots. Junior forward Danny Sumner, who was held scoreless in the initial period, hit back-to-back three-pointers to trigger a 9-2 run, trimming the deficit to six with 15:34 remaining. But the Ramblers answered, pushing the lead back to 12.
Sumner led another Tribe run seven minutes later, scoring six straight points to bring the College
within six again. Loyola responded for the second time, rebuilding its lead to 54-42 with 4:41 left.
From there, the Tribe outscored the Ramblers 19-10, closing to within three points twice on layups from senior forward Peter Stein.
With 24 seconds remaining, junior guard Sean McCurdy forced a tie-up in the backcourt, which gave the Tribe possession. Sumner was fouled, but missed both free throws, and freshman forward
Quinn McDowell and junior guard David Schneider could not connect on follow-up shots.
The College received one last chance at forcing overtime after Loyola’s Andy Polka missed two free throws, but Schneider’s three-pointer missed badly, ricocheting harmlessly off the glass.
Schneider finished with a season-low: two points in 26 minutes of action. Shaver considered pulling his junior point guard from the game because he was still recovering from a nasty spill during Saturday’s overtime loss to Liberty University, which jarred loose one tooth and required stitches during the game and additional treatment Monday.
“He wasn’t himself tonight,” Shaver said. “[But] he’ll be fine.”
Sumner and Stein carried the load for the Tribe, scoring 18 and 16 points, respectively. Stein, who recorded zero points and five turnovers against Liberty, connected on six of eight field goals and knocked down all four of his free throws against the Ramblers.
A bright spot for the Tribe was the return of McCurdy, who missed the College’s five previous
games due to an ankle sprain. McCurdy played 23 minutes, netting two points and dishing
out three assists to one turnover.
