Ramblers Rock Gentile against St. Francis in 93-44 trouncing

Loyola men’s basketball blew out the University of St. Francis Oct. 28 in a 93-44 exhibition win. Second-year guard Kayde Dotson led the Ramblers with 17 points while St. Francis fourth-year guard Joffrey Nunnally took charge for the Fighting Saints with 15 points. 

The Ramblers opened the game with a 10-0 run over the span of the opening three minutes. Third-year center Miles Rubin opened the game with a floater. After being fouled, fourth-year forward Joshua Ola-Joseph made two at the line. 

A driving dunk turned into an and-one at the line from Rubin after drawing a foul. A 3-pointer from third-year guard Deywilk Tavarez made it 10-0. Nunnally scored the first Fighting Saints points with a 3-pointer to make it 10-3. 

Misses and fouls plagued both teams until Tavarez broke the drought with two made at the line. Redshirt fourth-year Fighting Saint Dakoda Joachim scored on a layup.

First-year guard Chuck Love III blocked an attempt from St. Francis’ fourth-year forward Damarcies Moore before connecting on a 3-pointer on the next Loyola possession. Two more Loyola misses came before redshirt third-year guard Justin Moore scored a layup to make it 17-5. 

St. Francis third-year forward and center Brady Cooper made two at the line before Moore made a layup and a floater on consecutive possessions. St. Francis redshirt fourth-year forward and center Merrick Small tipped in the ball to make it 21-9. 

Tavarez found Rubin for a dunk. Ola-Joseph attempted to repeat the action, but Rubin missed the rim. Nunnally and Rubin traded layups before Rubin blocked redshirt third-year Fighting Saint forward Connor Casper’s shot. 

Love III was fouled on his layup attempt and made one at the line. Dotson also drew a foul on his layup attempt and made both at the line. On the next Loyola possession, Dotson drained a 3-pointer to bring the Loyola lead to 31-11. 

Love III sent in a three before assisting Ola-Joseph on a dunk. After being fouled on a layup attempt, fourth-year center Alexander Richardson made one at the line. Nunnally scored the first points for the Fighting Saints in three minutes after making two free throws. 

Joachim’s single free throw was counteracted by a layup from fourth-year guard Kymany Houinsou. St. Francis third-year forward Coleton Hansen finished a three-point play before Ola-Joseph, Nunnally and Dotson each made layups. 

Houinsou made two free throws and Nunnally added one. Dotson’s dunk with 53 seconds remaining was the last points of the half, with the Ramblers heading into the break ahead 48-22. 

Dotson opened the second half with a 3-pointer, which was countered with a Fighting Saints layup by Hansen. Two scoreless minutes went by before Dotson made a free throw, giving Loyola a 52-24 lead.

Hansen and Houinsou traded layups, prompting another two-minute scoring drought. Graduate guard Dominick Harris — who just returned to the court after an ankle injury, according to head coach Drew Valentine — ended the scoreless period with two free throws, increasing Loyola’s lead to 30 points. 

Moore of the Fighting Saints drove in a layup, and Hansen slammed home a dunk, but a three from Harris and a dunk by Love III evened the score to 61-30. 

Fourth-year St. Francis guard Delshawn Simms scored two free throws before a Casper layup. Second-year guard Daniil Glazkov ended the Ramblers’ three-minute scoring drought with a 3-pointer, making it a 64-34 game. 

Tavarez committed consecutive fouls before both teams missed a shot. On a following layup attempt, Love III was fouled and made one free throw. 

Nunnally and Dotson traded threes, and Harris added two free throws to keep the Ramblers ahead 70-37. 

Simms made both on a one-and-one trip to the line before first-year guard Nic Anderson erupted Gentile Arena with a dunk. A four-point play by Tavarez was met with one made at the line by St. Francis’ Moore. Anderson made two at the line, followed by a dunk from redshirt first-year forward Brayden Young. 

Another Anderson dunk, a successful trip to the line by fourth-year guard Caleb Reese, and a layup by fourth-year forward Zachary Royster brought the Ramblers to an 86-40 advantage. 

A St. Francis jumper by Joachin was cancelled out with a three-point play from Anderson. Casper scored the final points for the Fighting Saints on a jumper. 

Young made one at the line before scoring on a layup. Royster tabbed the last point of the game with a free throw, ending the game with a Rambler win at 93-44. 

Love III and Dotson discussed the push they feel from Valentine to make sure the team chemistry transfers from off the court to on the court. 

“Coach Valentine just talks about taking a step every single day,” Love III said “I feel like that’s just what we’ve been trying to do every day.” 

Valentine added on to his players’ statements, saying he’s seen the team grow during fall practices and is impressed with the improvement on the court, while still needing to tweak the smaller details. 

“I think that off the court chemistry really showed today,” Valentine said. “It’s been showing over the fall, you can just tell the guys are closer, they have deeper relationships.” 

The Ramblers return to Gentile Arena Nov. 3 in their regular season opener against Cleveland State University. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game can be streamed on Marquee Sports Network.