Basketball: Loyola Picked Apart by John Carroll

The Loyola Dons could not have pictured a worse way to start league play than with a frustrating 35-point defeat.

In their MIAA A Conference opener Tuesday night, the Dons (4-2, 0-1 MIAA) were the victims of an 11-0 Patriots squad as John Carroll scored more than twice as much as Loyola in a convincing 66-31 victory.

Although the Dons expressed frustration in the locker room after the game, head coach Josh Davalli said that a loss of this caliber should serve as a great tool to prepare his players for a playoff run at the end of the year.

"They're pretty disappointed but they realize all this is a learning experience," Davalli said.  "We are trying to get better toward the end of the year and this is one step toward doing that."

From the get-go, the Patriots forced Loyola to play their style of game.

The Dons, who are used to practicing a patient, ball-control offense, could not handle the defensive pressure from John Carroll. The Patriots forced the Dons to take bad shots and turnovers as the Dons failed to gain any offensive consistency the whole game and only managed to score four points in the first quarter.

"We tried to control the ball and take good shots but their pressure forced us to do things we didn't want to," Davalli said. "We went faster than what we normally do and I think that affected our game and effected us pretty much throughout."

The defense, which has been the backbone of the team according to senior guard Dave Marsh, looked lethargic, allowing easy Patriot points all game long.

"Defensively, we didn't play very well; [it was our] worst defensive game," Davalli said. "We can't allow guys to drive by us and finish to the hoop with nobody contesting. It was just too easy; everything was too easy, whether it was threes or whether it was layups."

One of Davalli's keys to the game was being able to box out and fight for rebounds preventing John Carroll from scoring second chance points.

Although the Loyola faced a huge height disadvantage, they were not able to keep the Patriots off the boards as John Carroll out rebounded Loyola 28-16.

"They are a big team and definitely one of our downfalls this year is our size," Marsh said. "[But] we can still fight, box out. But I think we can definitely do a little better next time."

Although the Dons knew they would be in for a challenge against the seventh-ranked Patriots, this game should have been treated no differently than the rest of their league matchups and a better result was expected, Marsh said.

"We knew they were going to be tough," Marsh said. "But it's a league game and like all other league games its going to be a tough battle. We knew we were up against a good team. We knew if we play out best we have a chance against anyone."

The Dons are back on the court Wednesday as they continue league play at Mount Carmel.