Loyola, UIC, Wright State Advance in Men's Championship on Tuesday
March 2, 2005
#6 Wright State 61, #7 Butler 57
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- DaShaun Wood scored 17 points and Jaron Taylor made two key free throws to help Wright State defeat Butler 61-57 in the first round of the Horizon League tournament on Tuesday.
Zakee Boyd made four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points for the Raiders (15-14), who will play Detroit in the second round on Friday. Wright State outrebounded Butler 39-26.
Brandon Polk had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (13-15), who had a three-game winning streak snapped. A. J. Graves added 17 points.
Polk converted a three-point play to get Butler within 44-42 with 8:56 remaining but the Raiders went on a 13-5 run. Boyd started and ended the surge with 3-pointers.
Taylor made two free throws with 5 seconds left after the Bulldogs pulled within two on a 3-pointer by Graves.
The Raiders struggled early, shooting 36 percent from the field in the first half which the teams finished tied at 23.
Wright State shot 60 percent in the second half to finish at 47 percent for the game. Butler finished at 44 percent.
#4 Loyola 78, #9 Youngstown State 75
CHICAGO (AP) -- 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.
#5 UIC 84, #8 Cleveland State 65
CHICAGO (AP) -- Cedrick Banks had 23 points as UIC beat Cleveland State 84-65 on Tuesday night in the Horizon League Tournament.
Karl White had 12 points for the fifth-seeded Flames (15-13, 8-8 Horizon), while Armond Williams and Elliott Poole each had 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Flames led the eighth-seeded Vikings (9-17, 6-10 Horizon) 45-33 at halftime thanks to more than 50 percent shooting from the floor. UIC was 31-60 from the field for the game and held Cleveland State to 21-62 shooting.
Amadou Koundoul led the Vikings with 15 points and five rebounds, while Frashon McGee added 13 points and six rebounds. No other Cleveland State player had more than nine points.
