Loyola 78, Youngstown State 75

March 2, 2005

CHICAGO - DaJuan Gouard had 23 points and Blake Schilb added 22 as Loyola held off a furious late rally and escaped with a 78-75 victory over Youngstown State on Tuesday night in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament.

Fourth-seeded Loyola (12-16) won its fifth straight and advanced to Friday night's second round against UIC, which beat Cleveland State on Tuesday.

The Ramblers led 72-58 with three minutes left, but Derrick Harris three 3-pointers and Zach Silverman had another as the Penguins (5-23) closed within two points.

Loyola capitalized on a slow start by Youngstown State, which hit only one of its first 15 field goal attempts, and built a 41-28 halftime lead.

The Penguins crept within 56-48 midway in the second half, but Loyola went on an 11-2 run that made it 67-50 with 6½ minutes left.

The Ramblers went scoreless from the field for most of the last 5 minutes, a streak that ended when Schilb dunked with 8 seconds left.

Quin Humphrey led Youngstown with 22 points, while freshman John Barber had a career-high 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Brian Radakovich added 14 points.