By Paul Casey Gotham
BUFFALO, NY — Rarely can one play dictate the outcome of a basketball game. Tom Parrotta and his Canisius Golden Griffins found out Thursday night that a single possession can represent an entire contest.
Ben Averkamp led a second half rally as the Loyola (Chicago) Ramblers defeated Canisius, 59-45 in non-conference action at the Koessler Athletic Center.
Averkamp sparked a 10-0 run run as the Ramblers took the lead and never looked back. With surgical precision the junior forward moved in, around and through the Canisius zone.
“Averkamp missed a lot of shots early,” said Loyola head coach, Porter Moser. “He came down the stretch and he was making them. I was pleased because Canisius was playing extremely hard.”
Down four, Averkamp flashed to the right elbow, caught a Chim Kadima pass, squared and hit nothing but net.
After a stop on the defensive end, Christian Thomas grabbed his own miss and finished at the rim. Denzel Brito found Jordan Hicks on the next possession for a layup.
Averkamp continued his work 15 feet from the basket.
Britos entered the ball from above the arc. Averkamp turned and nailed. The Ramblers completed the 10-point run when Averkamp went high-low to Thomas for another deuce. The Ramblers led 42-36.
“When preparing,” Moser explained. “We went to a one-four high. They take away the wing entries. They match up really well. We wanted four different entries to attack it, and we really tried to hit the middle.”
Averkamp became the distribution point for the Ramblers. Most of the forward’s 22 points came from the foul line area along with his three assists.
“Averkamp can really pass in that middle. He’s a big target.”
“They’re great at seals and angles,” commented Parrotta. “They’re great at getting the ball where they got to get to.”
Alshwan Hymes stopped the run with a three.
The Ramblers came right back with Averkamp hitting a catch-and-shoot jumper from Hicks.
“We were watching film,” Averkamp commented. “The middle could be a soft spot in their match-up zone. When we were able to get them to match up on the wings, they are kind of flat along the baseline. A lot of times I was able to get to that softer part because you have someone guarding the point guard up top, and you have someone with the big down on the block and someone on the other block.”
Averkamp hit six-of-eight from the field and connected on both his free attempts in the latter stanza.
“I didn’t hit my short shots right away in the beginning, but coach was saying to basically keep shooting it, and I was able to get into a rhythm there in the second half.”
The contest was particularly frustrating for the Griffs. One game after hitting 50 percent from the field and scoring 90 points against at South Dakota, the Blue and Gold connected on just 18 of 57 attempts versus the Ramblers.
No one player shouldered the responsibility more than Gaby Belardo who had a chance to stop the decisive 10-0 run.
Leading by two, Reggie Groves found Belardo open in the right wing. Belardo set his feet, squared and released a shot which appeared true only to kick off the back iron. Josiah Heath chased down the long rebound and, with the Ramblers defense thrown out of position, fed Belardo for another wide open look. But again the shot caught the back rim. Still, Heath managed to corral the loose ball and set up Belardo for a third attempt, but the Griffs went away with an empty possession.
“I was wide open,” Belardo said refusing to use his ongoing back ailments as an excuse. “I should have made them.”
“That kind of speaks volumes of the whole night,” Parrotta reflected. “He was wide open. He knows that, but I didn’t tell him to pull it out and run something.”
It was a game of missed chippies, rimmed out shots and lost opportunities for the Griffs. Loyola outscored the Griffs 39-27 in the second half despite taking 14 fewer (36-22)shots from the field than the Blue and Gold. The Ramblers never connected from behind the arc and only outrebounded the Griffs, 37-34.
The miserly defense is not uncommon for the Ramblers who held their last two opponents to less than 50 points on 35 percent shooting from the field. Loyola seamlessly switched between man-to-man and 1-3-1 defense that, if nothing else, kept the Griffins off-balance.
The Griffins used the long ball to grab an early lead in the game.
Alshwan Hymes relocated the ball from the free throw line to Belardo on the wing. Belardo knocked down the catch and shoot three.
After grabbing a defensive rebound, Hymes busted it up the middle of the floor and pulled up at the top of the key. Canisius led 8-2.
Loyola-Chicago used 10 first-half turnovers by the Griffins to score 12 points.
The Ramblers tied the score at eight when Jordan Hicks stepped into a passing lane and led Averkamp for a layup.
Harold Washington authored the Canisius response.
The junior guard used the glass on a pull up jumper from the right. On the next trip, Washington drove the lane, hung in the air looking to dish to Chris Manhertz. When the Ramblers defense rotated, Washington lofted a layup that kicked long. Heath was there for the tap in.
Walt Gibler turned in a double-double for the Ramblers with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Thomas chipped in 10. Hicks had a game-high four assists and four steals.
Washington and Belardo scored 10 apiece.
Chris Manhertz led with a career-high 13 rebounds.
“He is extremely physical,” Moser said of the Canisius forward. “He is a very good player.”
The win was the fourth in row for Loyola (Chicago). The Ramblers started the season with road losses to Illinois and Kansas State.
Loyola resumes Horizon League play when Wright State pays a visit on December 29th.
The Griffs host Binghamton on Wednesday, December 28th. A 7pm tip is scheduled.
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