2008 Woodie Awards
Sullivan's 27 leads Hounds by Vermont
Dave Lomonico & Kat Kienle
Issue date: 11/20/07 Section: Sports
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Sports Editor
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By Kat Kienle
Assistant Sports Editor
In an intense match-up highlighted by the reunion of old college roommates and career highs, the Loyola men's basketball team edged out the Vermont Catamounts 83-79 on Sunday for their third straight victory of the season. The win, which comes after a 71-67 triumph over American on Tuesday, brings the Greyhounds to 3-1 on the season before they begin a series of five away games.
"I think this win shows a lot of resolve for this team and it's about winning," said head coach Jimmy Patsos. "We're 3-1 and we just played two really good programs. When you play [solid] programs you don't beat them by ten, fifteen, twenty points. Vermont is an outstanding program. You're not going to beat them by more than a couple so to win is everything. We're far from perfect, we're just winning."
The Greyhound offense was catalyzed by Junior guard Marquis Sullivan who dropped a career-high 27 points and went 7-8 from three-point range while senior forward Omari Isreal also recorded a personal best of 17. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Brett Harvey added 13 to the tally, allowing Loyola to slip by Vermont despite a 30-point performance from Catamount forward Marqus Blakely and a lackluster performance from Gerald Brown who played regardless of an injury (and will hopefully be back on Tuesday).
The game's fast-paced tempo was established early in the first half with turnovers being committed frequently on both sides of the ball and each squad having difficulty finding the net. The Greyhounds soon however settled down and were propelled by Sullivan who netted five of his seven threes and 19 points in the game's opening 20 minutes to give Loyola the slight 41-39 advantage entering intermission.
"Well tonight, I think I was just letting it fly," said Sullivan. "Against Towson and PU I was thinking about it too much but tonight I just settled down and let it fly."
While Sullivan added to his total in the second half, it was Isreal who dropped nine points in the half's opening five minutes in an attempt to break away from the Catamounts.
"The thing about Omari that you don't see is that he's taking the ball out of bounds, he's calling defenses, he's talking in the huddles," said Patsos. "We were winning by four and Omari said 'We can play better'".
Meanwhile, senior Michael Tuck contributed to the offensive efforts with 15 points but more importantly six rebounds, four defensive.
Vermont however, on the back of Blakely who netted 20 points in the later 20 minutes, contended with Loyola up until the dwindling seconds when they got the chance to win the contest on their final possession.
With Vermont trailing 81-79, Catamount Mike Trimboli sent a pass up to Colin McIntosh on the right wing, who overshot his three with Harvey snatching the rebound. Harvey then sunk his two free throws at the line to finalize the Greyhound victory.
"83-79 is exciting, I thought it was a great game," said Patsos "I want to extend this series; it was a good atmosphere and we like playing up and down. I'll take up-and-down basketball."
Meanwhile, on Tuesday evening, after an uninspired first half that saw the team commit 10 turnovers and a defense that allowed American to shoot 64.7 percent from the field, the Hounds charged back from a 17-point deficit with a relentless defensive effort in the second half to edge out American, 71-67.
"Loyola just wore us down, and they kept coming at us in the second half," American head coach Jeff Jones said. "The game became more physical; Loyola forced us to make individual plays."
Brown led the charge with 32 points and five steals, including a 12-of-14 effort from the free-throw line. Tuck tacked on 13 points - 11 coming in the second half -- and five rebounds.
It was Brown who, en route to his sixth career 30-point game, kept Loyola from being run out of their own building with 17 first half points, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. But it was his work on the defensive end and from the free-throw line that sparked Loyola's second half run.
After Isreal hit a foul shot to give the Hounds their first lead, 47-46 at the 11:33 mark, Brown picked Brian Gilmore's pocket, was fouled and proceeded to drain two from the charity stripe. Four minutes later, with Loyola up by five, 53-48, Brown grabbed another steal and threw a no-look pass to freshman Brian Rudolph for a layup that brought the crowd to its feet. It was all part of a 22-6 Loyola run that saw the Hounds build a nine-point lead with just under six minutes left in regulation.
And when American made one last push in the final minute, cutting the lead to 62-61 after a three from Garrison Carr, it was Brown who stepped to the line and hit all six free throws in the final 40 seconds.
"I'm the leader of the team, and if I set the tone on the defensive end, then everyone is going to hop on," Brown said.
And jump on they did. The Hounds held American to 40 percent shooting and forced 10 turnovers in the second half, thanks to Rudolph, who shut down two of American's strongest players defensively, Carr (19 points) and Derrick Mercer (23 points), who dominated the first half. Rudolph did his part on offense as well, dishing out six assists and scoring six points to go along with his steal and five rebounds.
"Mercer and Carr are as tough as it gets at the mid-major level," Patsos said. "For Brian Rudolph to play 20 minutes against them… he led that team defensively. I thought he was outstanding."
The Hounds, who went with their third different starting lineup in three games, fell behind 8-0 before Brown converted a pair from the line five minutes into the game. Loyola could do nothing in the half court with American's swarming man-to-man defense limiting the dribble drive and passing lanes.
After junior Joe Miles had the ball stolen and Carr went coast to coast for a layup to put American up 33-19, Loyola started their ascent on the shoulders of Brown, who nailed a huge three pointer.
The deficit was down to 10 when Sullivan, who had 10 points, drilled a three right before the half, giving the Greyhounds momentum going into the second half.
"[Loyola] brought pressure, and we got tired and gave in," Mercer said. "The pressure fueled their defense, and then they started hitting big shots."
Loyola takes to the road for the next couple of weeks, starting with Seton Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
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