Loyola-Chicago 54, St. Peter's 49
Loyola-Chicago overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to get by Saint Peter's 54-49 Saturday afternoon.
The visiting Ramblers improved to 8-3 on the season, which is one more win than they had all of last season. It was their sixth win in their last seven outings.
The Peacocks fell to 5-6.
Both teams had problems scoring in the first half, which ended with Saint Peter's up 17-16.
The Peacocks, who made only eight of 27 field-goal attempts in the first 20 minutes, got their offense going to start the second half and were up 37-26 midway through the period.
But the Ramblers, who shot only 25 percent in the first half (5 of 20), kept chipping away and eventually caught their hosts and took a 46-45 lead on Joe Crisman's jumper with two minutes left.
Free throws down the stretch then made the difference. The Ramblers made eight of 10 from the stripe over the last 39 seconds.
Veteran Ben Averkamp led the Ramblers in scoring with 17 points with 13 of his total coming at the free-throw line, where he was perfect for the day. Joe Crisman with 12 points was the only other Ramblers in double figures.
Yvon Raymond with 17 points was the only one in double digits for Saint Peter's.
