 "Photo: Loyola University Athletic Department/Steve Woltmann")
 "Photo: Loyola Athletic Department/Steve Woltmann")
Senior guard Aric Van Weelden returned to action on Wednesday night at Valparaiso after missing more than a month of games with a knee injury. Unfortunately, his return did not translate into wins for the Ramblers as they dropped two straight on the road.
Victories in hostile environments have been hard to come by, but the Ramblers appeared to have a chance to win in both games at halftime. However, the second-half woes that have plagued the Ramblers over the last month and a half continued as they fell 84-73 at conference in Valpo, before losing 78-58 at Creighton as part of Bracketbusters weekend.
The Ramblers got off to a strong start at Valpo, opening up a 15-9 lead behind five quick points apiece from junior guards Geoff McCammon and Terrance Hill.
Valpo then turned it around, entering halftime with a 40-34 advantage over the Ramblers. The Crusaders then opened it up early in the second half, going on a 22-8 run that gave them a 64-44 lead with just under 13 minutes to play. The Ramblers would fight back, cutting the lead to seven (67-60) and then to six (78-72), but Valpo was able to put it away at the end with free throws.
The Crusaders went 16-19 from the charity stripe in the second half, allowing them to keep the Ramblers at bay.
Valpo shot 50 percent from the field in both halves and placed five players in double-figures, led by Matt Kenney’s 27 off the bench. Howard Little also scored 15 off the bench. Cory Johnson had 11 and both Brandon Wood and Ryan Broekhoff chipped in with 10.
The Ramblers were led in scoring by senior forward Andy Polka. Polka had a career-high 19 points as part of his double-double as well as 11 rebounds.
Despite his effort on the boards, Loyola was still out-rebounded 34-30. McCammon had 18 and Hill had 15 points to contribute to the effort. Van Weelden added eight in his first action since Jan. 9.
Admittedly rusty against Valpo, Van Weelden said, “It was good to be back, trying to contribute to the team. Being back, I am going to just try to be a leader on and off the court and in the locker room for the guys, and although we have had some rough games, things can still be turned around.”
Loyola went 3-6 in Van Weelden’s absence.
Unfortunately for the Ramblers, Creighton University was not the place for the Ramblers to turn it around.
They traveled out to Omaha as part of the Bracketbusters weekend put on by ESPN to take on the Blue Jays of the traditionally tough Missouri Valley Conference. Loyola was down 32-20 late in the first half before going on a 13-2 run to close out the half trailing by just one.
In the second half, everything clicked for Creighton as they outscored Loyola 44-25 to win by 20, 78-58. The Jays shot a sizzling 15-27 in the second stanza, while the Ramblers went ice-cold, especially from behind the arc where they were just 1-12. Loyola was just 3-19 from deep.
Creighton was led in scoring by Kenny Lawson Jr. who had a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Cavel Witter added 12 points for Creighton.
Loyola was led by sophomore forward Walt Gibler with 15 points. Hill had 12 while McCammon chipped in with 11.
Polka had 10 boards for the Ramblers, marking the 14th game in which he has recorded 10 or more rebounds. He is currently averaging 8.9 boards and is tops in the Horizon League in rebounding, 0.4 ahead of Gordon Hayward of Butler.
The Ramblers close out the regular season this week at home with two contests against Wisconsin schools.
They host Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Thursday before Wisconsin-Green Bay comes to visit on Saturday. Then it’s on to the Horizon League tournament for the Ramblers. Currently, with a 5-11 conference record, they would be the no. 8 seed. Loyola’s overall record is 14-13.
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