Norfolk State kept it close for most of the contest, but Loyola Chicago pulled away in the end for a 64-45 win on Sunday afternoon at Gentile Arena.
The Spartans never led in the second half, but they tied the score twice in the first several minutes and were within three later on. But the Ramblers took control late in the game for the final score.
NSU fell after holding Loyola to 28 percent shooting in the first half. The Spartans, however, committed 24 turnovers for the game and were behind the 8-ball in fouls the entire time.
Junior Devante Carter led NSU with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Sophomore Joe Bryant Jr. added 11 points and four assists as well.
For the Ramblers (7-4), Tate Hall scored 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting with five rebounds and five steals. All of his points came in the second half. Jalon Pipkins and Cameron Krutwig each added 14 points, and Krutwig tallied 11 rebounds and six assists as well.
NSU fell to 3-9 after its eighth straight loss. It marked the fourth straight season the Spartans made the trek to Loyola.
For almost all of the first half, neither team led by more than three. It was still a three-point ballgame at the break.
NSU tied the score twice early in the second half, the first on a trey from senior Jermaine Bishop and then again four minutes into the stanza on two free throws from senior Steven Whitley. Loyola began a 9-1 run after that, pushing the lead to 37-29 to force an NSU timeout. Bryant drained a 3-pointer a little later to end a field goal drought of almost six and a half minutes.
Buckets by Carter and junior Kyonze Chavis cut the deficit to four, and the Spartans trailed by just three after a trey from junior Efstratios Kalogerias with 7:31 to go. They called timeout, though, when the Ramblers scored eight straight for an 11-point advantage with less than five minutes remaining.
The Spartans only got to within nine after that, as Loyola eventually scored the last 10 points of the game.
NSU finished 17-of-45 from the floor (38 percent), while Loyola made 62 percent in the second half and 42 percent for the contest (21-of-50). The Ramblers made just 14-of-23 from the free throw line, still 14 more attempts than the Spartans.
Neither team could get much going throughout much of the first half. NSU turned the ball over numerous times, and Loyola was cold from the floor. The largest lead for either team for most of the half was just three points.
The Spartans led by that early in the game on two buckets by Carter, and 3-pointers by Bryant and Bishop in the first 10 minutes helped NSU take leads back from the Ramblers. During the last six-plus minutes of the first half, Loyola never trailed. They finally broke the three-point barrier with 2:25 to go on two free throws for a 24-19 edge, but sophomore Chris Ford’s bucket a minute later made it 24-21 going into the half.
NSU fell on the wrong end of a 9-2 discrepancy in fouls for the first half, 19-10 for the game. The Spartans were also -10 in turnover margin, although Loyola failed to convert most of those into points.
The Ramblers made 8-of-19 from deep, 5-of-7 in the second half.
NSU will head to Atlantic City for the Boardwalk Battle next Friday and Saturday. The Spartans will take on Bowling Green and then either Drexel or Quinnipiac at Boardwalk Hall Arena.
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