The 11th-seeded Loyola beat Tennessee 63-62 in a South Region second-round game Saturday night., further advancing within the NCAA Tournament. NBC 5’s Lisa Chavarria reports.
The Ramblers are moving on. Are the Retrievers ready to run with them to the Sweet 16?
Loyola-Chicago kept its feel-good story going with a one-point win over third-seeded Tennessee in the second round Saturday as the little guys kept making more noise in the NCAA Tournament.
The victory allowed 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago to keep pace with the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, a commuter school in Baltimore which — before Friday night — was best known as a master of the game of chess by those who actually knew of the school.
UMBC etched its name in sports lore when it beat Virginia, the top seed in the men's tournament, by 20 points, becoming the first No. 16 seed to accomplish the feat in 136 tries. Now, it's time to see if the Retrievers can put all those post-victory texts and congratulatory calls in the rearview mirror when they play No. 9 seed Kansas State on Sunday with a Sweet 16 berth at stake.
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Clayton Custer #13 of the Loyola Ramblers is mobbed by teammates after hitting the game-winning shot to beat the Tennessee Volunteers 63-62 in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Ben Richardson #14 of the Loyola Ramblers and Jordan Bone #0 of the Tennessee Volunteers react after the Loyola Ramblers beat the Tennessee Volunteers 63-62 in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Marques Townes #5 of the Loyola Ramblers celebrates after beating the Tennessee Volunteers 63-62 in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Jordan Bone #0 of the Tennessee Volunteers attempts a shot while being guarded by Ben Richardson #14 of the Loyola Ramblers in the second half during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Clayton Custer #13 of the Loyola Ramblers attempts a shot in the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Clayton Custer #13 of the Loyola Ramblers is mobbed by teammates after hitting the game-winning shot to beat the Tennessee Volunteers 63-62 in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Donte Ingram #0 of the Loyola Ramblers and Admiral Schofield #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers battle for a rebound in the second half during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Marques Townes #5 and Ben Richardson #14 of the Loyola Ramblers celebrate in the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Cameron Krutwig #25 of the Loyola Ramblers attempts a shot in the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Aundre Jackson #24 of the Loyola Ramblers reacts in the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Clayton Custer #13 of the Loyola Ramblers attempts a shot in the first half against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Head coach Porter Moser of the Loyola Ramblers celebrates with Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt after beating the Tennessee Volunteers 63-62 in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
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Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt celebrates with members of the Loyola Ramblers after beating the Tennessee Volunteers 63-62 in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.
"Yeah, we're not satisfied," UMBC guard K.J. Maura said. "We go in tomorrow with the mentality we're going to win another game. We're hungry for more."
So, too, is Loyola, whose prayers again were answered in the waning seconds when Clayton Custer's winning basket bounced up off the front of the rim, lightly touched the backboard, and dropped softly back down before slipping through the net with 3.6 seconds left. Custer's winner came two days after Donte Ingram's buzzer-beating 3 from the March Madness logo beat Miami.
"We know that we can play with these teams," Custer said. "We play hard, we play together, and we play defense. I don't think a lot of these teams know how hard we're going to play when we show up. I know they got off to a good start, but coach challenged us to respond to it."
Call it divine providence for a team making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 33 years.
With a twist, that is.
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the team's 98-year-old team chaplain and occasional coach, has been watching and praying from her wheelchair on a platform near the main TV cameras courtside. But her bracket doesn't have her favorite team advancing past the Sweet 16.
"We're going to have to prove Sister Jean wrong on this one," Custer said.
