Loyola?s Gerald Brown and Brian Rudolph scored nearly half of their team?s points in a 63-51 victory over Iona yesterday afternoon, but it was seldom-used forward ? Dan Ficke ? who enabled the Greyhounds to end a three-game losing streak.
Ficke set modest career highs with two points and five rebounds in 17 minutes, but the energy the reserve brought into the game was just as important as Brown?s 16 points or Rudolph?s career-high 12.
“When I got in the first half, I just tried to play as hard as I could,” Ficke said. “The longer I was in there the more I was thinking ?I can do this? and ?I was meant to be in here.?”
And that?s just what he did in front of a crowd of 1,033 at Reitz Arena ?proving he can play mid-major basketball by sparking a reeling team that was in danger of losing for the sixth time in seven games. Ficke?s biggest play on the stat sheet came with nine minutes, 43 seconds remaining, when he delivered his first assist of the season with a perfect bounce pass to Michael Tuck for a layup that gave the Greyhounds (6-8, 2-2 MAAC) a 44-30 lead. Tuck finished with10 points and 10 rebounds.
“This team?s shown a lot of character,” Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos said. “I was really proud of the way we bounced back from a tough loss [69-67 to Fairfield on Friday].”
Loyola missed 20 of 27 shots in the first half, but took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Marquis Sullivan with 18:22 left in the game. Iona (5-11, 1-3), which defeated Loyola, 92-68, on Dec. 7, pulled to within 56-49 on Kevin Hassett?s three-pointer with 1:31 remaining, but Rudolph made five of six free throws to put the game away.
“That [loss to Iona] was part of the emotional factor,” Tuck, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds, said. “It was still fresh in our minds.”
