Saturday, November 19, 2016 2:30 p.m.
Sports and Fitness Center, St. Thomas
U.S. Virgin Islands
Loyola lost to St. Joseph’s 71-57 in their first-ever meeting on Friday at the Paradise Jam in the US Virgin Islands. Following Loyola’s loss, Oral Roberts took Ole Miss to overtime before losing 95-88, setting up Saturday’s matchup.
Loyola was a conference mate of the Golden Eagles for many years in the 1980s, and met several times through the 1990s and 2000s in non-conference battles. The Ramblers knocked ORU out of the 2015 CBI in their last meeting with a 86-78 win on March 23, 2015.
Coach Scott Sutton’s team looks promising and potentially dangerous in the early going, losing by 15 at Baylor and taking Ole Miss to OT. The Golden Eagles got an 11-point home win over non-D1 Rogers State last week. ORU will likely start Kris Martin, Aaron Anderson and Jalen Bradley at guards, Emmanuel Nzekwesi at forward, and Albert Owens at center. Nzekwesi and Owens each scored 20+ against Ole Miss, and Bradley got 12 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals playing 44 of the 45 minutes of the game. Nzewkwesi played also played all but one minute of the game, and Owens put in 36 minutes. Junior guard Aaron Young was the only ORU player off the bench to log double digit minutes. Fatigue may be a factor in a game beginning less than 24 hours after a tense OT contest.
The Ramblers disappointed against a short-handed Saint Joseph’s team, who were playing without their top rebounder and returning scorer. Nevertheless, the SJU backcourt torched the Ramblers with a combined 46 points from the two starting guards, one of whom scored a career high 26 with five three pointers. Loyola only found the bottom of the net on six out of 27 (!??!?) attempts. Ben Richardson and Bruno Skokna combined for zero points in 50 minutes on the court. Aundre Jackson was excellent, with 22 points on 9 for 11 shooting from the field, but no one else met or exceeded their season average or expectations. Only Doyle (34) and Ingram (31) played more than 30 minutes, so the Ramblers will be better rested.
Now on the losing side of the bracket, the Ramblers will just have to make the best of what’s left to them and try to grind out two wins against ORU and either Montana or Washington State on Monday to partly salvage the trip. The next two teams will be similar to the low-middle or bottom of the MVC, so it will be a good early indicator of how we might do in the conference season.
Links
Talk about the game on the Loyola Rambler basketball message board
Paradise Jam Bracket: http://paradisejam.com/wp-content/uploa … turday.pdf
Loyola game notes: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/loy … 119aaa.pdf
Oral Roberts game notes: Pending
TV/Streaming video: (pay) http://www.flohoops.com/event/253702-u- … sion-i-men
Radio: http://www.oruathletics.com/broadcast/naswrp
Vegas odds: Pending
