PEORIA, Ill. - Loyola-Chicago guard Courtney Stanley hit a buzzer-beater from halfcourt, lifting the visiting Ramblers (7-2) to a 68-65 men's basketball victory at Bradley (5-4) Wednesday night at Carver Arena. The Ramblers overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to snap Bradley's 12-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents from the state of Illinois.
Loyola guard Terrance Hill led all scorers with 20 points, including five straight points in the final 1:31 that helped the Ramblers erase a 65-60 deficit. Walt Gibler hit all 10 of his free throw attempts to highlight his 12-point effort off the bench and forward Ben Averkamp chipped in with 10 points. Bradley junior guard Andrew Warren led four Braves in double-figures with 17 points. Senior guard Chris Roberts added 12, freshman forward Milos Knezevic scored 11 in 13 reserve minutes and junior guard Sam Maniscalco completed the double-digit scoring with 10 points.
Bradley had not lost to an Illinois team from outside the Missouri Valley Conference since the Fighting Illini left Carver Arena with a 72-62 victory Nov. 22, 1999. Loyola had lost 10 straight at Carver Arena, dating back to Dec. 15, 1984.
It appeared the Braves would extend both streaks when they broke out to a 13-point advantage, 42-29, with 1:14 left in the first half. But after making 15-of-27 (.556) field goal attempts in the first half, including 8-of-11 (.727) from 3-point range, Bradley went cold in the second half.
After stretching its 42-31 lead to 12 points, 50-38, on a Maniscalco layup with 17:08 left in the game, Bradley did not score again Warren buried a 3-pointer with 10:15 left. And though the Ramblers were unable to take full advantage of Bradley's cold spell at the time, closing to just 50-45 during the dry spell, the door was left open for their rally at the end of the game.
Warren's trey gave the Bradley a 55-45 bulge, but Hill answered with a 3-pointer and the Braves were never able to regain control, and after reserve center Sam Singh gave the Braves a 65-60 lead by splitting two free throws with 3:02 left, Bradley did not score again.
Following a Maniscalco turnover, Hill scored just inside the top of the key to make it 65-62 with 1:31 left, then split two free throws to get Loyola within 65-63 after Bradley forward Taylor Brown committed a second straight turnover by the home team. Brown committed a third straight Bradley turnover on the ensuing possession, and this time Hill made two free throws to knot the score at 65-65 with 32 seconds left.
Bradley tried to play for a final shot, but Brown missed a free throw line extended jumper and Aric Van Weelden rebounded for the Ramblers with 2.5 seconds left. Following a timeout, Loyola inbounded the ball from the baseline. Stanley caught the ball in the center of the court in front of Brown, was able to skirt both Brown and the sideline, freeing himself for the game-winner, which rattled home as the buzzer sounded.
The Braves will try to snap their two-game losing streak Sunday when they visit Iowa State for a 1:05 p.m. tipoff, Bradley's final non-conference game before opening its Valley schedule Dec. 29 at Drake. Sunday's game will be televised by Mediacom and the broadcast will be available for viewing online on ESPN360.com.
