Men’s Basketball Picks Up “Incredibly Frustrating” Loss Against Duquesne

Loyola men’s basketball dropped their seventh-straight game against Duquesne University Jan. 24. Fourth-year forward Xavier Amos took charge for the Ramblers with 12 points, scoring the majority of his points at the free-throw line. Duquesne’s fourth-year guard Tarence Guinyard took charge in the second half of the game, leading the Dukes with 23 points in their 71-59 victory. 

Duquesne’s third-year guard Jimmie Williams and first-year guard Nic Anderson traded threes to start the game. The Dukes added two more buckets — a dunk from fourth-year forward David Dixon and another three from Williams — before Loyola could get another on the board from fourth-year center Alexander Richardson’s layup. 

Amos added one at the line before fourth-year forward Joshua Ola-Joseph tied the game at eight with a layup. The lead shifted back-and-forth with one at the line from Duquesne’s redshirt fourth-year forward Alex Williams, an Ola-Joseph layup and a layup from graduate Dukes forward John Hugley IV. 

Jimmie Williams blocked an attempt from Amos and took it down to the Duquesne basket, but he was fouled by fourth-year guard Caleb Reese and made both at the line. Third-year center Miles Rubin and Alex Williams traded dunks to keep the Dukes ahead 15-12. 

A layup from third-year Duquesne forward Jakub Necas was met with a layup from Anderson and a shot clock buzzer-beating three from third-year guard Deywilk Tavarez to tie the game at 17. 

A brief period of scoreless play took control of the court as Rubin recorded a block, Amos missed twice and Jimmie Williams missed once. Amos finally got the Ramblers back on the board with two at the line to take the lead for the Ramblers. 

Rubin picked up his first foul of the night with an attempted steal from Guinyard, giving the Dukes a chance to set up again, but they failed on a scoreless possession. Duquesne’s redshirt third-year guard Brandon Hall picked up a defensive rebound from an Amos miss and took it all the way down the court before missing the layup, while Anderson was called for a foul. Hall made one of two attempts at the line, decreasing Loyola’s lead to one. 

The Ramblers kept their momentum when Rubin received a lob from Tavarez, slamming home a dunk for a 21-18 lead. Redshirt fourth-year Duquesne guard Maximus Edwards hit a jumper before stealing possession from Richardson. Tavarez yanked the possession back and found Richardson under the net for a hookshot jumper, making it 23-20. 

After a foul was called on Richardson, Edwards and the Loyola bench received technical fouls after words were shared between the two sides, but the exchange was initiated by Edwards. According to head coach Drew Valentine, the referees called the technicals to keep the situation under control. 

Richardson picked up yet another foul, this time on Guinyard, who made one at the line. Richardson failed to complete a one-and-one opportunity as Hugley IV drove in a layup to even the score at 23. 

A 9-0 run from the Dukes took off from there, with Guinyard hitting a three, Jimmie Williams and Edwards each taking a successful trip to the line and Jimmie Williams adding one more free throw to the board. 

Tavarez ended the Dukes’ run with a jumper, but one at the line from Dixon kept Duquesne ahead. Second-year guard Daniil Glazkov hit a three before Necas drove in a layup. With the ball, Loyola called a timeout, now down 34-28. 

An airballed free throw shot from Rubin gave the Dukes possession, and after they called a timeout, the Dukes failed to complete the possession, ending the first half in their favor, 34-28. 

Anderson got the second half started with a coast-to-coast dunk while Amos added two at the line and a layup to tie the game at 34. Necas scored the first point for the Dukes in the second half with a three before driving in a layup  off a stolen Reese possession to make it 39-34 and forcing a Rambler timeout. 

After a plethora of misses on a single Rambler possession, Reese fouled Necas to give Duquesne the ball. An unsuccessful three from Hall was rebounded by Tavarez, who found Amos for an open three. 

A layup from Hall preceded a heave from Guinyard to an open Jimmie Williams, slamming a dunk to take control of the game.

Two at the line from Guinyard were cancelled out by a Tavarez jumper. Three possessions of misses were broken by a Guinyard layup as his teammates Edwards and Alex Williams each drew a foul on the Ramblers. 

Tavarez set up Ola-Joseph for a dunk before Richardson stole Hugley IV’s possession and was fouled, resulting in an empty Rambler possession. A Tavarez open layup was matched with two at the line from Alex Williams, but Rubin gave the points back with a layup, decreasing Duquesne’s gap to four. 

Amos made two more at the line as Dixon failed to complete a three-point play. Necas caught a defensive rebound off a miss from Amos and sent it to Edwards, who drove in a layup. Guinyard added on to the run with a three, making it 56-47 with under eight minutes left to play. 

Dixon recorded a block before redshirt second-year Dukes’ guard Jake DiMichele fouled Glazkov, who made both at the line. Rubin added one of his own to the board, decreasing the Duquesne lead to six.

The Dukes kept going against the Ramblers with Guinyard adding three 3-pointers, and Jimmie Williams adding one of his own. Anderson and Ola-Joseph disbursed four points — two at the line from Anderson and a layup from Ola-Joseph — between the Dukes’ scoring. 

Glazkov made two free throws, narrowing the Dukes’ lead to 12, before the teams went scoreless for three minutes, as Duquesne called a timeout. 

Guinyard and fourth-year forward Zachary Royster traded threes to end the game in favor of the Dukes 71-59. 

Valentine was upset with how the game ended, especially after their second half slump against St. Bonaventure earlier in the week. 

“A second straight game where I think the game got out of hand in the second half due to a lot of our own doing,” Valentine said. “We just looked totally unprepared from my perspective, even in the first half. Obviously, that’ll continue because a lot of what we’re doing right now is self-inflicted, and it’s self-sabotaged and just incredibly frustrating.” 

The Ramblers remain at home to host Saint Joseph’s University for the annual Jesuit Jam celebration Jan. 27. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and can be streamed on CBS Sports Network.