Loyola utilizes homecourt advantage

BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW                                                      March 3, 2010

Loyola used its homecourt advantage and some untimely Evanston missed free throws to win its regional semifinal Wednesday night, 57-56, in Wilmette. The Wildkits missed eight free throws in the loss, including two crucial one-and-ones in the closing minutes, while Loyola’s Michael Lang hit two free throws with 2.6 seconds left to win the game.

Twelfth-seeded Loyola (12-17) got 28 points from Andrew Kindelin, including 15 in the third quarter and six more in the last two minutes.

“I’ve never felt anything so incredible, making those shots in front of our home crowd,” Kindelin said. “It felt good to do this in front of all my classmates, because I’ve done this before, but never in front of this many people.”

After applying an easy press for the first half, fifth-seeded Evanston put on full-court pressure that led to five steals in six Loyola possessions to start the fourth quarter, building up a 10-point lead with four minutes to play. The Wildkits (14-13) forced 18 Loyola turnovers on the night.

“We are getting better and close to attacking the press and getting better shots,” Loyola coach Tom Livatino said. “It’s been our bugaboo all season, but I think we’re improving and even with as many turnover as we had, we created them as well and got some good shots.”

After Loyola took a 43-42 lead at the end of the third quarter, Evanston held them without a basket for the first five minutes of the fourth, until Lang hit a big three, one of three consecutive Rambler treys.

Lang added 11 points for Loyola, while Ryan Frazier-Chambers led Evanston with 13 points and James Farr added 11.