Men’s Basketball Comes Back in Second Half Against Richmond, Advances to Second Round

After being down until the fourth minute of the second half, Loyola men’s basketball prevailed and defeated the University of Richmond 75-67. Fourth-year forward Joshua Ola-Joseph scored a career-high 26 points in the win and first-year guard Aiden Argabright led the Spiders with 12. 

The Ramblers have won three of their four last games — including over Richmond Feb. 28. Head coach Drew Valentine said it’s because the team never quitted, despite being plagued with injuries. 

“These guys are extremely optimistic,” Valentine said. “You gotta try to find a way to win no matter who’s out there. I’ve told these guys all year, I don’t care who’s out there on the floor, I feel like we can go out there and compete.” 

The Spiders and Ramblers traded four 3-pointers to open the game, coming from second-year guard Kayde Dotson and third-year guard Deywilk Tavarez for Loyola and graduate guard Will Johnston and third-year guard Collin Tanner, to tie at six. 

Johnston increased the lead with a driving layup, but missed the and-one opportunity, as fourth-year forward Xavier Amos tied it up with a floater. Richmond’s fourth-year forward Jonathan Beagle answered immediately with a driving layup to take the lead and Ola-Joseph tied it again on a second chance layup. 

Richmond’s graduate guard AJ Lopez made a turnaround jumper before one at the line from third-year center Miles Rubin. A brief scoring drought was broken with a layup from third-year Spiders forward Jaden Daughtry. 

After a single free throw from Rubin, Daughtry was called for a double-dribble, giving the Ramblers the ball. The possession was unsuccessful as Richmond’s third-year guard Mikkel Tyne stole and scored to put the Spiders ahead 16-12. 

Ola-Joseph completed a three-point play before fourth-year Spiders center Mike Walz and Dotson traded threes. Tanner added on a three of his own to keep Richmond ahead 22-18. 

Rubin and Tanner traded jumpers before a 3-pointer from Daughtry gave the Spiders a seven-point lead. Dotson responded with a layup and Anderson made one at the line to decrease the deficit. 

Tavarez mishandled a missed three from Tyne and the ball ended up back in Richmond’s hands. Tanner was fouled driving to the line and made both. Ola-Joseph countered on the next possession, sinking all three attempts at the line, making it a one possession game at 29-26. 

Argabright made one at the line, and Johnston made a three to sneak ahead of the Ramblers. Three consecutive 3-pointers from Dotson, Argabright and Ola-Joseph preceded a layup from Johnson, ending the first half 37-32, in favor of the Spiders. 

Walz opened the scoring in the second half with a layup, matched by one from Rubin on the following possession. A Tyne three was followed by a layup from Tavarez to keep Richmond ahead. 

Three missed Richmond attempts were all rebounded by the Spiders, with the final one attempted to be picked up by Dotson, but he was called for a foul, and Richmond failed to convert on the possession given after a timeout called by the Ramblers. 

Valentine said this timeout helped the team regroup and remember why they were here. 

“You guys have to play harder,” Valentine said to the team during the timeout. “You have to play to win. [Richmond’s] playing to win harder than you are. These guys were trying to win the whole time. We were trying to lose ourselves in the game. In these games in March, you got to go get it.” 

Rubin missed two free throw attempts, but Ola-Joseph picked up the last and slammed it home for a dunk. First-year Spiders guard Will Harper III completed a three-point play, which prompted a two-minute scoring drought. A steal from Harper III found Argabright for a layup, after which Loyola called a timeout, now down by 10.  

Walz extended the Spiders’ lead with a 3-pointer, and Argabright added two more at the line. Ola-Joseph found Rubin for a dunk and first-year guard Nic Anderson added a free throw to close the gap to 53-41. 

A minute of scoreless play went by until Rubin made two at the line and slammed a dunk. Tyne and Walz responded with a jumper and dunk, respectively, before Ola-Joseph drained two consecutive threes to make it a six-point game. 

Argabright hit two at the line, prompting a Rambler run. Anderson kicked it off with two free throws, followed by a Rubin dunk and a 3-pointer from Tavarez. Tyne stopped the bleeding with a jumper, giving the Spiders a 61-58 lead.

The Ramblers took off from there, with Dotson and Ola-Joseph each draining a three, sandwiching a Lopez jumper. Lopez and Ola-Joseph then traded successful trips to the line, followed by one from Argbright, to leave Richmond ahead by one. 

Tavarez hit a three on the next possession and Dotson drove in a layup with 30 seconds remaining, forcing a Richmond timeout down by four.

The Ramblers closed out the game with two successful trips from Amos and Ola-Joseph, signaling a 75-67 win over the Spiders. 

Moving on to their next matchup against Davidson College, Ola-Joseph and Rubin said the team is prepared to take on the challenge of a team who’s already beaten them twice this season. 

“I feel like there’s some type of bad blood between us or something like that,” Rubin said. “If we go out there and compete with them I feel like we can come out with the dub tomorrow.” 

Ola-Joseph followed up, saying “It’s hard to beat a team three times.”

The Ramblers continue their hunt for the Atlantic 10 Championship March 12 and face Davidson College in the second round. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed on the USA Network.