While Andy Polka, Terrance Hill, Aric Van Weelden, Marcus Thomas and Walt Gibler are never going to be confused with the famous Michigan quintet of the 1990's, the Ramblers five were quite fabulous as they carried Loyola to a critical early season victory over Western Michigan on Monday.
Loyola defeated Western Michigan 60-58 at the Joseph J. Gentile Center.
Hill led the Ramblers with 16 points. Gibler was the emotional backbone of Loyola's 18-3 run to take the game back from the Broncos. He scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
"It's a team game," Gibler said. "I've had open shots. Our players are great. I think everyone is capable of scoring on our team."
The bench continues to be a key for the Ramblers. On Monday the Loyola (3-1) bench outscored Western Michigan's (1-2) 25-5.
"Our bench has been a big key for us when we've won," said head coach Jim Whitesell. "They've been very productive. ... The other night they saved us. They save us when a couple of our starters aren't playing as well."
One of the starters for the Ramblers, Polka, also had a good game against a solid Broncos front line. Polka had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also recorded five assists and made two huge plays. The first was when he stepped in and took a charge from David Kool with 2:22 remaining. Two possessions later on offense Polka followed it up with a diving basket to the hoop that gave Loyola a five-point lead.
Kool had a game-high 22 points for Western Michigan.
Loyola trailed by 10 points midway through the second half before the fantastic five began their run for the Ramblers. A broken nose to freshman forward Ben Averkamp and seeing Hill get tossed to the floor helped energize the Ramblers as they strove to pick up their teammates.
"We're real team oriented" Hill said. "So once we see one of our teammates get hit like that we respond. You can't do that to one of our teammate. So regardless of what we got to do. ... We weren't going to let each other go out like that."
Each of the five players is very complementary to their teammates. While Van Weelden and Polka give the team a steady hand, Hill and Thomas provide good outside shooting to stretch defenses. Gibler gives the Ramblers a versatile wing that can score while driving to the basket. Any of the players have the ability to score, so Whitesell lets them ride the hot hand, like the Ramblers did with Hill in the second half on Monday.
Five players making a difference in another close game for the Ramblers.
Other games on Monday night:
DePaul 58, St. Joseph's 51 - The Blue Demons took third place at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands with the victory over the Hawks. Mac Koshwal didn't play due to a foot injury, but the defense continues to be spectacular and Will Walker scored 25 points to carry DePaul (3-1) to victory.
Illinois State 69, UIC 65 - The Flames gave Osiris Eldridge and the Redbirds all they could handle at UIC Pavilion, but it wasn't quite enough as UIC came up just a few points short. Zavion Neely was UIC's leading scorer with 17 points and Jeremy Buttell and Robo Kreps each scored 15.
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Tags: Andy Polka, Loyola-Chicago, Terrance Hill, Walt Gibler
