Loyola gets clutch shot to eliminate Wolf Pack
Townes’ late 3-pointer extends Ramblers’ wild tourney ride
ATLANTA — Marques
Townes doesn’t think he’ll ever forget the shot.
With his team clinging to a onepoint lead Thursday night and
6.3 seconds remaining, Townes sank a 3-pointer from in front of his team’s bench, a basket that extended Loyola-chicago’s improbable NCAA Tournament run.
Townes scored 18 points, including the key 3-pointer, to secure a 69-68 victory over UNR in the NCAA South Regional semifinal.
After making the shot, Townes ran down the court, pumping his fist.
“I’ll probably remember it for the rest of my life,” Townes said. “I mean, it doesn’t really get any better than that.”
Townes’ coach, Porter Moser, said he never doubted his player. Not even after Townes had a ELIMINATE
combined 15 points in Loyola’s first two NCAA Tournament games. Not even with the shot clock about to expire Thursday and Townes in a tough shooting position. “He was a warrior,” Moser said.
Teammate Clayton Custer also praised Townes. “I think Marcus Townes is the best player on the court tonight,” Custer said. “I don’t even think it was close, either. I am so happy for him. He is such a good basketball player and such a good person, I am just so happy he dominated the game tonight and he led us.
“This is unbelievable. Feels like a dream.”
One more victory, and 11th-seeded Ramblers will be in the Final Four. Not bad for a program that hadn’t been in the Sweet 16 in 33 years.
After Townes’ 3-pointer, UNR called timeout. Caleb Martin answered with a 3-pointer for UNR, but this time the Wolf Pack couldn’t extend their string of second-half comebacks in the tournament.
Loyola (31-5) advances to play Kansas State, a 61-58 winner over Kentucky, in Saturday’s regional final.
Martin led UNR (29-8) with 21 points. Twin brother Cody Martin had 16. Jordan Carolina had 19.The Wolf Pack finally faced a deficit too big to overcome.
But Caleb Martin bemoaned his missed defensive opportunity before Townes’ clutch 3-pointer, figuring he could have made a play on the pass.
“I should have denied the catch,” Martin said of the pass to Townes. “I just got lost and it was costly.”
Said UNR coach Eric Musselman: “We get a stop on the 3 they shot at the buzzer and maybe we’re sitting up here with a win.”
Four members of Loyola’s 1963 NCAA championship team had front-row seats: Jerry Harkness, Les Hunter, John Egan and Rich Rochelle. In the final minutes, Harkness could be heard saying, “We need a stop. We just need a stop.”
Also attending the game was Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, Loyola’s 98-year-old team chaplain who has become a celebrity during the NCAA Tournament.
“It was getting pretty bad. I thought I might have to resort to my nitro (nitroglycerin), but I didn’t have to do that,” she said after the win.
She also had a word of caution for Loyola’s next opponent: “Here we come, next team, whoever you are.”