Men’s Basketball Breaks 100 against Eureka College

The Loyola men’s basketball team blew out Eureka College in a 105-53 victory Sunday, Nov. 10. Graduate guard Sheldon Edwards Jr. led both teams with 17 total points while Eureka’s fourth-year guard Peewee Brown scored 11 — the most for the Red Devils. 

The Ramblers started the game on a 12-1 run, with six points by third-year guard Jayden Dawson, a 3-pointer by first-year guard Daniil Glazkov and a three-point play by third-year guard Justin Moore. 

Fresh out of a timeout, Edwards Jr. hit a three, giving Loyola a comfortable 15-3 advantage. Third-year guard Jalen Quinn finished a driving layup before second-year Red Devil guard Jaxson Provost made a three. 

Brown was the only scorer for Eureka, adding seven points in two minutes. On the other side of the court, Dawson and Moore converted on layups, second-year center Miles Rubin had a successful trip to the free-throw line and third-year guard Kymany Houinsou added five points for the Ramblers, now ahead 28-15. 

After a two-minute scoring hiatus, Glazkov slammed a dunk and Edwards Jr. sent in a pull-up jumper. Eureka remained scoreless for an additional two minutes, with third-year forward Emaryon Byrd eventually breaking the drought on a layup to bring the score to 34-17. 

Byrd added four more at the line as both Quinn and Houinsou failed to convert at the line. Dawson and Rubin made up for the misses with a layup and slam dunk. 

With under four minutes left to play in the first half, third-year guard Jacob Gonzalez added four points with a successful trip to the line and a jumper. Fourth-year forward Jalen DeLoach and Moore countered Gonzalez’s points for a 43-25 lead. 

Edwards Jr. closed out the first half with a layup, sending the teams into the locker room with the Ramblers up 48-29. He then opened up the second half with a 3-pointer.

Dawson built on his momentum and sent in his own three a minute later before third-year Red Devils guard Amariyae Wilson and Gonzalez added four points to the score. Edwards Jr. and Moore made two more 3-pointers for the Ramblers before Moore set Rubin up for a dunk which erupted Gentile Arena for a 65-37 Rambler lead. 

The Ramblers outscored the Red Devils 6-4 in the next six minutes. Nwaokorie, Quinn and DeLoach each completed two-point plays while Eureka’s second-year guard Micah Bruer and fourth-year forward Raymond Bandzoumouna made jumpers for a 30-point Loyola lead. 

The Ramblers stayed hot and scored three points on a technical foul called on Eureka’s fourth-year forward Sam DeJesus. Before another timeout was called, Glazkov sank a 3-pointer to give Loyola a 77-42 lead. 

Out of the timeout, Edwards Jr. flew through the air and slammed the ball home. Nwaokorie added five points with a 3-pointer and a slam dunk, while Wilson and third-year forward Andrew Coker combined for five points for the Red Devils. 

With a significant lead over Eureka, head coach Drew Valentine subbed in a majority of the bench players, a choice he said he likes to have the ability to make.

“Games like these, days like these, are super fun for this team, for this program,” Valentine said. “When everybody gets an opportunity to play and everybody gets a chance to touch the floor.”

Third-year guard Caleb Reese, second-year forward Matthew Mortenson and first-year guard Seifeldin Hendawy all scored their first points of the season during the remaining stretch. 

With under four minutes remaining in the game, Loyola had a 94-49 lead over the Red Devils. Glazkov and Hendawy got the Ramblers to 99 with a 3-pointer and a dunk, and set first-year forward Zachary Royster up to break 100 at the line. 

Eureka’s third-year guard Blake Logsdon and third-year center Andrew Wells were able to bring the Red Devils’ score up to 52, but a last minute trip to the free-throw line by Reese finalized the Rambler win at 105-52. 

Valentine said despite the tough wins the team’s had to start the season, he’s glad they’re learning and improving off each win. 

“It’s a little easier to turn the page when you’ve had some positivity mixed in with the ‘get better’ as I would call it, rather than the errors or bad stuff we’re doing, ” Valentine said. “We just got to continue to grow and get better.” 

The Ramblers are heading on the road Nov. 15 to Princeton, NJ, where they’ll face Princeton University, who finished in the top spot of the Ivy League standings last season. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.