Loyola holds off Valparaiso 70-68

Cameron Krutwig finished with 20 points and six rebounds and Loyola held off Valparaiso 70-68 on Sunday at the Gentile Arena.

Krutwig knocked down 8 of 13 shots from the floor for the Ramblers (16-9, 8-4 Missouri Valley Conference). Freshman Marquise Kennedy added 15 points and six rebounds off the bench, while Tate Hall scored 10.

Mileek McMillan hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 to top the Crusaders (12-13, 5-7). Donovan Clay and Javon Freeman-Liberty both had 13 points and five rebounds, while Ryan Fazekas hit three 3-pointers and scored 13.

Loyola led 39-35 at halftime and upped its lead to 10 just 2:54 into the second half. Kennedy’s layup gave the Ramblers a 68-55 lead with 6:03 left to play. Valparaiso rallied to pull within 69-68 on Freeman-Liberty’s jumper with 40 seconds remaining. Krutwig made 1 of 2 free throws with 11 seconds left and the Ramblers’ Kennedy stole the ball from Freeman-Liberty with 3 seconds left to preserve the victory.

Loyola shot 59 percent from the floor (27 of 46) and 39 precent from distance (7 of 18) but made only 9 of 21 free throws. Valparaiso shot 51 percent overall, 46 percent from distance (11 of 24) and made 3 of 5 foul shots.