Alston’s Last Second Heroics Lift Ramblers Over UMass 79-78

With six seconds left and his team down two against Atlantic 10 opponent the University of Massachusetts, fourth-year forward Philip Alston received a pass on the wing and stormed into the paint where he put up a shot driving to the hoop that was too strong and ricocheted off the glass. He managed to get his own rebound and put up a second shot from under the basket which bounced off the rim. Once again, he grabbed the rebound and, on the third attempt, he got the bucket to go, drawing a foul in the process and tying the game at 78-78 with 1.1 seconds left on the clock.

Alston, who scored the last eight points for Loyola down the stretch, made the free throw finishing the and-one and giving his team a 79-78 lead. A desperation half-court heave in the final second by first-year UMass guard Jaylen Curry sailed well-over the basket as the Rambler bench emptied, joining the home crowd at Gentile Arena in celebrating their fourth win in A-10 play. 

Loyola entered the game Jan. 17 with an 11-6 record with a 3-1 A-10 resumé after picking up a hard fought 78-75 victory on the road against Saint Joseph’s University. UMass sat at 11-5 overall and was 2-2 in conference as they entered Gentile Arena. The Minutemen played without their second leading scorer fourth-year forward Matt Cross, who missed the game due to injury.

After the game, Alston said securing the win for his team felt amazing and his success on the deciding play came down to resiliency. 

“At that point, it’s either you get it or you lose,” he said. “So I just had that mindset that I wanted it in any way possible and by any means.” 

Alston led Loyola in scoring with 23 points and grabbed six rebounds. Third-year guard Des Watson turned in another strong performance with 15 points and nine rebounds, and graduate guard Braden Norris helped direct the offense with eight points and six assists. Fourth-year forward Josh Cohen stood out for the Minutemen, tying his season high in scoring with 28 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Curry connected on four 3-pointers as he scored 18.

The squads exchanged blows out of the gates as second-year guard Jayden Dawson got the Ramblers going with a three while Alston and first-year center Miles Rubin had success inside. Third-year Minutemen guard Rashool Diggins had four points for his team in the first four minutes, but Watson ensured Loyola were victors of the early exchange when he extended over a UMass defender for a mean slam dunk giving the Ramblers a 9-8 advantage.

The teams traded the lead back and forth before Rubin, who is the nation’s leading first-year in blocks per game, came out of nowhere to reject a shot that spurred a fast break headed by graduate guard Greg Dolan. Dolan took it the length of the floor where he threw a no-look pass behind him to Alston who was trailing, setting up an easy lay up making it 17-14 in Loyola’s favor. 

The Ramblers went on a streak of five straight made field goals, but Cohen helped UMass keep pace until Dolan created some separation at 28-22 when he found himself wide open from beyond the arc. 

Loyola garnered their largest lead of the game at 33-22 with just over five minutes left in the first half, after Dolan found Rubin inside for a two-hand jam and then drained another open three.

The Minutemen stormed back with two 3-pointers and a 3-point play from Cohen who added two more inside a few possessions later. A 3-point play off an offensive rebound by Rubin and two more buckets inside from Alston helped the Ramblers quell the run. Curry got the last word when he connected on a deep three at the halftime buzzer, cutting the Rambler lead to just three at 43-40 going into the break. 

The pace of play in the second half was slowed by frequent foul calls — resulting in a total of 48 fouls throughout the course of the game and 31 free-throw attempts per team. An alley-oop tossed from Watson on an inbound play was hammered home by Alston. A possession earlier, Watson hung on the rim with a two-hand jam of his own as the Ramblers jumped out to a 49-42 lead early in the half.

UMass closed the gap with the aid of a 3-point play finished by second-year guard Keon Thompson and five quick points from second-year forward Daniel Hankins-Sanford which had them back within four at 58-54 with 12 minutes to play.

First-year UMass guard Robert Davis Jr. drew a foul shooting beyond the arc and made all three to make it a one-point game at 61-60. The game proceeded with neither team letting up an inch as the sides traded free throws until, with just over five minutes left, Norris connected on a three giving Loyola a 71-66 lead.

Cohen picked up three quick points and Curry nailed a three to make it 72-71, giving UMass their first lead since the early minutes of the game. Two made free throws by Curry gave the Minutemen their largest lead of the game. On the other end, Alston stormed back and scored inside to make it 74-73. Cohen made one at the line before Alston was successful inside again, knotting the score at 75 apiece with just over a minute left.

Cohen drew a foul and made both, giving UMass the advantage. With 30 seconds left, the Ramblers came down court but couldn’t penetrate the defense, leading head coach Drew Valentine to call timeout with 14 seconds left.

Norris received the inbound pass wide open beyond the arc but his shot was just off and bounced away. Alston managed to grab hold of the rebound and drew a foul, at the line he made just one leaving the Ramblers down one with 11 seconds left. 

Hankins-Sanford was intentionally fouled, making his first shot but missing his second, he left the door open for Alston’s heroic last-second 3-point play. 

With the victory, the Ramblers have now matched their conference win total from last season. Loyola shot 46.4% from the field while UMass finished at 41.4%. The Ramblers finished with 39 rebounds to the Minutemen’s 37 and doubled UMass’s 10 assists with 20. 

Valentine said he was proud of how his team persevered and keeps finding ways to win in close games.

“I have to give our guys credit, because they’re really not breaking regardless of what’s going on, what adversity is hitting us and that’s what you have to do in conference play,” he said.

Featured image by Aidan Cahill | The Loyola Phoenix