CHICAGO ? Loyola-Chicago freshman Tony Young put up a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and teammate J.R. Blount added 24 points, leading the Ramblers (4-0) to an 86-72 men's basketball victory versus Bradley (2-1) Wednesday night at the Joseph J. Gentile Center.
Bradley senior forward Marcellus Sommerville led four Braves in double figures with 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Lawrence Wright added 17 points for Bradley, while Tony Bennett chipped in with 14 points and Daniel Ruffin added 11. Loyola wingman Blake Schilb scored 15 points for the Ramblers and guard Chris Logan added a double-double of his own with 12 points and 10 boards.
After Bradley stormed out to an 11-2 lead in the first 4:18, the Ramblers quickly fought back with a 12-2 burst to take a 14-13 lead with 11:43 left. Logan and Schilb combined for nine of the 12 points during the burst. The rest of the half was a back-and-forth affair that featured 15 lead changes and six ties that ended with Loyola clinging to a 41-38 lead.
After Bradley scored the first five points of the second half on a Sommerville jumper and a Ruffin 3-pointer, Loyola reclaimed the lead for good by countering with a 9-0 burst. Bradley got no closer than five points the rest of the way and deficit remained in double-figures the final 3:45.
In addition to outrebounding Bradley 42-34 and turning its 15 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points, Loyola reversed several of Bradley's early season trends. Bradley entered the game leading the Missouri Valley Conference with a +11 turnover margin, but the Braves committed 16 turnovers and forced only 14 by the Ramblers. Bradley also recorded only 10 assists on its 27 field goals after assisting better than 70 percent of its field goals in the first two games.
By earning the win Wednesday, Loyola prevented Bradley from sweeping a trio of Chicago teams to start the season. Bradley opened the year with a 75-60 win Nov. 19 at DePaul and handled Chicago State, 68-58, last Saturday at Carver Arena. The Braves also fell to 0-3 all-time at the Gentile Center.
The Braves will return to action Saturday by hosting Bowling Green in a 7:05 p.m. contest at Carver Arena. The popular magical act Quick Change will perform during halftime Saturday.
