March 4, 2008

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - J.R. Blount scored 23 points and Loyola shot 65 percent from the field in the second half to capture a 57-51 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Tuesday night in a Horizon League Tournament First Round game.

Tracy Robinson added 13 points for the Ramblers (12-18), who advance to a second round contest Friday against UIC.

Ricky Franklin scored 17 points and Deion James added 14 for Milwaukee (14-16), which shot just 31.7 percent from the field for the game.

The game was a tight affair throughout, with eight ties and 13 lead changes. But, the Ramblers took the lead for good on a layup by Andy Polka with 3:05 to play and then put the game away at the line.

The Panthers, playing for the fifth time in 11 days, played without injured reserve Kaylan Anderson. Plus, senior Marcus Skinner returned for the first time in a week but played only 12 first-half minutes while wearing a soft cast on his injured ankle.

"A lot of credit goes to Loyola. Shooting 50 percent for the game tells it all," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "They were a little quicker to the rim and to those loose balls and had a little more left turning those corners on the ball screens. This time, clearly, we were just a half-step behind."

Both teams struggled through the first half, with the Panthers shooting 24.1 percent and the Ramblers shooting 37.5 percent. Milwaukee did score the first six points of the half but scored just 11 points after that, as the Panthers went 7:39 without a basket. Loyola pushed ahead by four points late in the half but a jumper by Franklin brought UWM to within 19-17 at the break.

Milwaukee pushed out to a 33-28 lead with 12:25 remaining in the game but never really found their stride again. The Ramblers took the lead back at the 9:25 mark and then grabbed it for good with just over three minutes to play.