Loyola beats Arizona State in Battle 4 Atlantis: 3 observations originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
While it wasn’t the tournament result that they had hoped for, the Loyola Ramblers were able to come out of the Bahamas with a win, defeating Arizona State by a score of 77-59 on Friday night. The team battled all week long and have shown once again that they are deserving of national attention. Here are three observations from the victory.
Multiple players contribute after foul trouble
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Holding their own against stronger opponents
After starting the season with a relatively weak schedule, the Ramblers were given the chance to prove their mettle this week in the Bahamas with all three of their opponents coming from Power Five conferences.
While the team was only able to win one of their three games, they never backed down. The Ramblers went toe-to-toe all game with No. 19 ranked Auburn and took a tie to the final ten seconds against Michigan State.
Converting points off of rebounds
After being held to only six second chance points in Thursday’s loss, the Ramblers were able to bounce back and finish their opportunities. The team followed up Thursday’s game with 11 second chance points to go along with 9 points off of rebounds. After facing a size deficit in the two prior games, the Ramblers were able to use their size and physicality to out-rebound Arizona State by a total of 33-24.
The Ramblers look to carry this success into next week, as they host Indiana State to begin conference play next Wednesday.
