Ramblers' Long-Range Shooting Dooms Tribe

Sophomore Danny Sumner turned in career efforts with 18 points and nine rebounds in the loss to Loyola.

02/23/08 5:30PM

Williamsburg - The William and Mary men’s basketball team fell to Horizon League foe Loyola-Chicago, 71-66, as part of the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters on Saturday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe was done in by the long-range shooting of the Ramblers, who despite entering the game shooting 26.6 percent from 3-point range on the year, connected on 12-of-23 (52.2 percent) from downtown. The College fell to 14-13 on the year, while Loyola improved to 11-16 overall.

Sophomore Danny Sumner turned in an exceptional performance for the Tribe with a near double-double. The Fairfax, Va., native equaled his career-high scoring 18 points, while also finishing with a career and game-best nine rebounds. Junior forward Peter Stein was not far from a double-double as well with 14 points on 7-of-8 from the field to go along with eight rebounds. Freshman John Sexton rounded out the Tribe’s double-digit scorers with 11 points, including a 3-of-4 effort from 3-point range.

The Ramblers came out of the gates on fire, hitting seven of its first 10 shots from the floor and five of its initial seven chances from 3-point range. After a Sumner fastbreak lay-up off a lob pass from senior Nathan Mann tied the game at five, Loyola used an 11-2 run to take a lead it would never relinquish. The Ramblers drilled three-straight trifectas to end the run as Justin Cerasoli’s first longball of the game gave Loyola a 16-7 lead at the 13:21 mark.

Junior forward Chris Darnell answered Cerasoli’s trey with one of his own to stop the bleeding for the Tribe and pull W&M to within 16-10. The Ramblers, though continued their torrid shooting as Cerasoli connected on his second 3-pointer of the contest from the right side to give Loyola a 24-12 lead with 8:31 left in the opening half.

W&M reeled off six straight points as sophomore David Schneider found Stein for a lay-up before Sumner scored on back-to-back buckets in the paint. The spurt brought the Tribe within 24-18 with 4:52 remaining in the first stanza. The Ramblers answered by scoring seven of the final nine points of the first half to take an 11-point cushion to the locker room. Loyola’s seventh and final 3-pointer of the first half from Cerasoli with two minutes remaining gave the Ramblers a 31-20 lead at the intermission.

The Tribe cut the deficit to eight points two minutes into the second half on a nifty drive and dish from senior Laimis Kisielius that resulted in a two-hand slam from Sumner. The dunk cut the gap to 34-26, but like it had toward the end of the first half, Loyola answered to extend its lead back to double digits.

The Ramblers scored the game’s next seven points to take its largest lead of the afternoon at 41-26. Loyola’s leading scorer J.R. Blount scored the first five points of the run on a jumper from the left baseline and a 3-pointer, before Tracy Robinson capped the spurt with a driving lay-up.

Two quick 3-pointers from Sexton cut the deficit back to nine with 11:48 remaining. But Loyola again responded as Blount nailed his second 3-pointer of the game from the right side to push the lead Rambler lead back to 12, 50-38, with nine minutes left in the contest.

The Tribe slowly started to work its way back into the game, holding Loyola off the scoreboard over the next three minutes. During the stretch, W&M scored seven straight points capped by back-to-back 2-of-2 efforts from the charity stripe by Schneider and Kisielius. The last pair of freebies cut the deficit to 50-45 with 6:15 remaining.

Like it had most of the game, Loyola went right back to the 3-point shot for the answer. Robinson connected from the left corner, before Blount drilled a longball from the right wing to push the lead back to 11, 56-45, with five minutes remaining.

W&M’s last ditch effort in the closing minutes cut the deficit to five points on four occasion, and actually pulled the College to within four points, 70-66, with six seconds remaining. Loyola, though, hit 10-of-12 from the free throw line over the final 58 seconds to keep the Tribe at bay.

The College returns Colonial Athletic Association play when it travels to George Mason on Wednesday, Feb. 27. The game is slated for a 9 p.m. tip-off and will be televised on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). George Mason and W&M are separated by only one game in the CAA standings as both teams enter the final week of the regular season with a chance at a first-round bye in the league tournament. Mason is 11-5 and tied with UNC Wilmington for second in the conference standing, while the Tribe stands at 10-6 in a fourth-place tie with Old Dominion.

Fans can also catch the action on the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum on the call. The broadcast will also be available over the Internet at TribeAtheltics.com.

Box Score