Just an amazing result. So many guys made big plays. Alston, Watson,Norris, Quinn were really good. Let’s hope we have no emotional let downs at get the couple done.

ICYMI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBjpd5gZOwg

Last night was an outstanding showcase event for the Ramblers and the A10. The environment was rambunctious! The A10 office no doubt took notice at how well our home crowd showed on ESPN2. Look for Loyola to gain more exposure on the Friday night stand alone game. A10 peers have taken notice and are complementing the Ramblers by applauding their inclusion in the conference.

As for the game, incredible effort and composure down the stretch. Watson's first half daggers allowed us to be in a position to win the second half. Defense and physicality won the night.

_________________
Loyola '86
St. Bona '83

My voice has not recovered, and I must detox for a full week.

Fabulous game, and a memory to all that will last for a lifetime.

Huge number of NBA scouts in attendance last night. Had 4 guys in front of me in the first row doing study on Holmes. First 5 minutes of the game, the scout’s laptop had more negative critiques than positive ones LOL! Then they realized with our bench mob standing all game long, and all of us other crazies, they should move to an upper level location.

Also, Mike Dunleavy Jr. was here too. That was a surprise.

I appreciated the Dayton folks who were mixed in with us in the 104 corner. Very nice and polite people. I’ll welcome them back any time.

Excellent food and drink and social at the alumni event. Great seeing and chatting with many of you last night too!

What an environment. Lot of Dayton fans in the upper bowl, but for a group of fans who talked a big game about taking over Gentile and making it a home game for Dayton, it was really 70/30 Loyola/Dayton fan ratio. Mix of good and bad Dayton fans in my section. But I was pretty relentless hassling them after we won. Sent em home.

Confidence has to be through the roof for this squad. They now know that they can beat anyone in this conference. So much depth and different guys stepping up on different nights.

As predicted, our physical defense wore Dayton down. They are not a deep squad and their PG was out the second half. They got frustrated and flustered down the stretch. We were relentless. In their face every possession. Watson was incredible. Dawson is finding himself. Dame, Miles, Tom & Patrick did all they could to limit and frustrate Holmes. Norris was the leader on the court as he's been for years...and hit an absolute dagger. Just such a fun team.

Everything is in front of us. Let's finish off with a strong week and take over Brooklyn.

1. Fits in with overtime victory over UNI couple years back,,then I have to go back to '78' when back to back we beat defending champs Marquette at the Amphitheater down in the old Stockyards then came back to little old Alumni Gym to defeat Larry Bird and Indiana St. both teams were ranked at the time.
2. Lots of great comments and analysis on the game. Couple of things .
Phil Alston seems to continue to improve by not committing as many silly fouls. Starting to hit his 3's and not forcing as many bad shots...
3. We seem to be in great shape..I know we have a lot of depth but Watson and Norris both played 35 plus at the end of the year on two days rest off a road game. I do not know who are strength and conditioning guy is but apparently doing a great job.
4. Miles Rubin usually seems pretty stoic out on the court..but he was really pumped near the end with his blocks.
5. What a stat line for Braden Norris..11 assists!!! most impressive stat for our team is assists per game at 17. Other candidate stats?
6. Several end of game possessions Coach Drew put the ball in Jalen Quinns hands and allowed Branden the opportunity to get some 3's. Early in the year not sure that would have been the case but sure is a nice option. Just seems Jalen can get to the hoop almost any time he wants.When he finishes better...Tuscola Tough.
7. Another tip of the cap to '25' (not his age for his bold prediction back in early December that we would be top 4 in the A-10
8. Like in the post game conference when Coach said we are not a STAR team and no one cares about points...that's culture. SK..thanks for continuing to post those..always a good listen.

Nick Michael is the strength coach. Did a halftime interview with him for the Bonaventure game.

_________________
Scott Sudikoff (X/IG @Sudikoff)
Voice of the Ramblers
Men's Hoops Radio PXP (X/IG @Rambler_SN)
ESPN+/NBC Sports Chicago PXP
https://loyolaramblers.com/watch
http://www.soundcloud.com/ramblersn

This game definitely showed well on TV.

Both teams were playing hard nosed defense. I'm surprised only one person fouled out.

It looks like we are most likely locked into the #2 seed. I'd like VCU to jump Dayton on that final game of the season. I don't want to face Dayton before the championship if at all possible.

Dayton stays ranked (25) after the loss to our Ramblers. Richmond gets a vote. We had a vote before we lost to the Bonnies. This is some good basketball. Let's win our last 2.