Southern Illinois Salukis vs Loyola-Chicago Ramblers Match Player Stats On Feb 27, 2021

Cameron Krutwig's tip-in with 11 seconds remaining in overtime Saturday enabled No. 21 Loyola-Chicago to hold off visiting Southern Illinois 65-58, allowing the Ramblers to ultimately win the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title.

Krutwig, who led four Loyola players in double figures with 20 points, got to Braden Norris' missed shot for a 63-58 lead. Marquise Kennedy sank two free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining to ice the victory.

The Ramblers (21-4, 16-2 MVC) won the conference outright and earned the top seed for next week's conference tournament after Drake lost Saturday night at Bradley to fall to 15-3 in the conference.

The Salukis (11-13, 5-13) wasted a career-high 30 points from Lance Jones, who led them back from a 16-point first-half deficit by scoring 21 after halftime. His layup with 3:26 on the clock in overtime gave the Salukis a 58-57 lead, but Southern Illinois did not score again.

Jones canned two free throws with 21.2 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 56-all. Loyola had a chance to win it, but Lucas Williamson's 3-pointer banged off the back rim as time expired.

In the teams' second meeting in less than 24 hours, the start had a much different flavor than Friday night, when SIU opened a 14-5 lead about five minutes into the game.

Defense controlled the game early, with the score only 8-6 Loyola almost six minutes into the game. But the Ramblers gained traction offensively by establishing Krutwig in the lane.

Beginning with his layup at the 14:15 mark, Loyola steadily built its margin until it owned a 38-22 advantage on Keith Clemons' driving layup through some soft defense with 17 seconds left before the break. Krutwig finished the half with 15 points as the Ramblers made 63 percent of their shots from the field.

But in a foreshadowing of the second half, the Salukis ended the first half with momentum on a fadeaway 3-pointer by Steven Verplancken, slicing the deficit to 13 at intermission.

--Field Level Media