Men’s Basketball Celebrates Cerebral Palsy Awareness in 69-66 Win

Loyola men’s basketball found their third conference win against the University of Richmond Feb. 28 during Cerebral Palsy Awareness night. Third-year center Miles Rubin led the Ramblers with a 19-point showing and Richmond’s graduate guard AJ Lopez scored 23 points in the loss. 

Cerebral palsy awareness is big for the family of head coach Drew Valentine, whose 5-year-old daughter Hayden was diagnosed with cerebral palsy around her first birthday. The family has been advocating for the disease since. 

“Everybody puts so much into it to make it special,” Valentine said about the celebration. “We just want to create a sense of community within a community. We want to have people within the [cerebral palsy] community feel like the Loyola basketball family supports me.” 

Lopez scored a 3-pointer after a scoreless opening minute-and-a-half. On the next possession, Rubin got the Ramblers on the board with a floater, starting a 10-0 run. 

Fourth-year forwards Xavier Amos and Joshua Ola-Joseph combined for three at the line, while second-year guard Kayde Dotson drained a 3-pointer, followed by a layup from fourth-year center Alexander Richardson. 

The Spiders got back on the board with a wide-open dunk from fourth-year forward Apostolos Roumoglou and one at the line from Lopez. Dotson immediately responded on the other end with a floater, before himself and Amos got called for consecutive fouls 10 seconds apart. 

Richmond’s fourth-year center Mike Walz hit a three before two consecutive Rubin baskets, giving the Ramblers a 16-9 lead. A successful trip to the line from Rubin was met with a three from Lopez. First-year guard Nic Anderson responded with a three-point play, but Lopez undid it with another 3-pointer. 

Anderson dove under the basket for a reverse layup and Amos added on to the Rambler lead with a layup. Lopez completed a three-point play after being fouled by Richardson. On the other end, Dotson was fouled on a euro-step attempt, sinking both to make it a 27-18 game. 

Walz and Rubin traded field goals before Lopez added one at the line. Second-year guard Daniil Glazkov drained a three before assisting Ola-Joseph on a dunk, forcing a Spiders timeout down 34-21. 

Walz exited the break with a turnaround jumper and Ola-Joseph responded with a layup under the net. Third-year Spiders’ guard David Thomas sank a three and after crossing into Richmond’s side of the court, the Ramblers called a timeout with 36 seconds remaining in the first half. 

An Ola-Joseph layup was ruled to be a shot clock violation after an official review and Walz completed a three-point play to end the half 36-29 in favor of the Ramblers. 

The second half of the game was filled with fouls, increasing the game time to over two and a half hours. The Ramblers left the game with 29 fouls called and both Amos and Dotson fouled out. The Spiders added on with a total of 23 with Walz fouling out towards the end. 

Valentine said the amount of fouls called was astronomical and something he hasn’t seen in a while, but applauded the Ramblers for being able to get the game done. 

“I don’t even know if we’ve had over 40 fouls called in a game,” Valentine said. “Our guys did a really good job of figuring out how to win, battling through diversity, not letting the two and a half hour game get in the way of us winning.” 

Rubin got the second half started with a hookshot jumper on the opening possession. Richmond’s third-year guard Collin Tanner drove in a layup, which was canceled out by a three-point play from third-year guard Deywilk Tavarez, and a 10-point Rambler lead. 

Three consecutive Loyola fouls were called — on Richardson, Tavarez and Dotson — before Tanner slammed home a dunk. A three minute drought plagued the court, filled with misses and fouls, before Anderson broke through with a 3-pointer. 

Richmond’s first-year guard Aiden Argabright hit a three before two more Loyola fouls within 30 seconds. Richardson responded with a layup before making one at the line a minute later, giving the Ramblers a 47-36 lead. 

Glazkov and Lopez traded threes and Tanner added two at the line for the Spiders, decreasing the Loyola lead to single digits. Amos took advantage with a 3-pointer, before Argabright had a successful trip to the line. 

Anderson heaved an inbound ball cross court to Rubin, who then drove in a layup. Lopez matched a minute later with a jumper, decreasing the lead to 55-45. 

Argabright and Glazkov each made one at the line before another scoreless drought, which Walz broke through with four at the line on two separate trips. 

Valentine challenged an out of bounds call, which he believed went off a Richmond player. After the review, the call stood, giving the Spiders the ball and losing a Rambler timeout. 

Tanner and Lopez combined for three foul shots, closing in on the Ramblers. Richmond’s third-year guard Mikkel Tyne had a successful trip to the line to make it a one-point game. 

Rubin recorded a steal and drew a foul, where he made one to keep the game in the Ramblers’ hands. Shortly after, Amos made two at the line to increase the lead to four. 

Lopez kept it close with two more at the line, before Rubin and Argabright traded hookshots. The Spiders then called a timeout to regroup with just under two minutes remaining to play. 

Ola-Joseph scored a layup off a full court pass from Tavarez, but failed to make the and-one after drawing a foul. In the same second, Rubin was sent to the line and made both. Argabright countered with one at the line before the Ramblers called a timeout, leading 65-60. 

A shot clock violation called on Tavarez gave the Spiders the ball and Tyne capitalized on a three. Fourth-year guard Caleb Reese was intentionally fouled and added two more to the board. Redshirt first-year Spider forward Jaylen Robinson got a chance to close in on the Ramblers, but missed both his attempts at the line. 

Two more intentional fouls from the Spiders on Ola-Joseph and Tavarez, and one on Richmond’s graduate guard Will Johnson, ended the game with Loyola scoring two and Johnson scoring three at the line, signifying a 69-66 victory for the Ramblers. 

Valentine said the preparation going into the game was some of the best he’s seen from the team since the beginning of the season, and hopes to build off of it going into the remainder of the regular season. 

“I gotta commend our guys for their response today,” Valentine said. “I think this is our best stretch of practices in a row that we’ve had all year, dating back to the summer. We were very consistent this week and I think that speaks to the guy’s character of the individuals in the locker room.” 

The Ramblers play their last away game of the regular season Wednesday, March 4 against Saint Louis University. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be streamed on CBS Sports Network.