John Carroll head coach Tony Martin draws up a play, with 9.9 seconds left, as the Patriots held off Loyola, 58-55.
by Joe DiBlasi Isaiah Philmore had seven of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as
John Carroll rallied from a five-point deficit, with under two minutes to play, to knock off visiting
Loyola, 58-55, in a key MIAA A Conference basketball game, Sunday afternoon in Bel Air. With the victory, John Carroll avenged a narrow loss to the Dons, the previous Sunday, and locked down fourth-place, as the regular season came to a close. The two teams are now set to meet for a third time in 10 days, when they once again battle in Bel Air, on Tuesday evening (7:00 p.m.) in the quarterfinals of the MIAA A Conference playoffs.
Loyola's Matt Rum, who helped Loyola grab a come-from-behind on Friday at Calvert Hall, had eight points in the final quarter, and 18 on the day, but it was not enough to hold off Philmore and the Patriots.
Philmore also had 15 rebounds in the monster effort, while teammates Wyatt Smith and Raphael Jordan combined for 16 points and five boards.
"I had to convert some shots that we needed and that's what was going through my head," said Philmore, who transferred to John Carrol prior to last season and has been a major part of the program's turn-around. "I'm looking forward to playing them again."
John Carroll's appearance in the A Conference playoffs is somewhat remarkable when you consider that the program did not win a single game when the current seniors were freshmen. The following year head coach Tony Martin came on board and began rebuilding the program. Last year, the club became one of the top programs in the B Conference and established a new school record for wins. This year, they jumped to the A Conference and even held a national ranking at one point.
The Dons were philosophical following the loss, recognizing a shot at redemption is not far away.
"We'll be back on Tuesday for another shot at them," said James Davenport, who scored 14 points in the loss.
"They are a very physical team, and we like playing against them," added Rum. "We missed a few shots down the stretch and just couldn't close it out. We'll make a few adjustments and we'll be ready for them on Tuesday."
Loyola finished the regular season at 17-8 overall and 10-8 in the MIAA. The Patriots are now 19-11 and they posted an 11-7 league mark during their first venture into the A Conference.
Tuesday's winner will move onto the semifinals at Towson University, opposite top-ranked Mount St. Joseph, on Wednesday night. The game will be part of semifinal double-header to be televised on a tape delayed basis by Comcast's CN8 network.
St. Frances will meet the Towson Catholic/Cardinal Gibbons winner in the opening game, at 5:30 pm, and the second game is schedule for 7:30 pm. The games will air this Saturday, one day prior to the MIAA finals, beginning at 4:00 pm. They will also be available On-Demand next week.
The MIAA A Conference Championship Game will be played on Sunday at 5:30 pm at the Towson Center.
John Carroll 58, Loyola 55
LOY 13 16 16 10 55
JC 15 13 15 15 58
Loyola: Stanwick 6, Schittino 9, Cotherman 2, Floyd 3, Kirby 2 Shewell 1, Davenport 14, Rum 18.
John Carroll: Philmore 18, Evans 3, Jordan 8, Jones 4, Gaspic 6, W. Smith 8, Brooks 2, McMillen 4, Kusmieruk 3 Wiegand 2.
Half: Loyola, 29-28.