SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Coming up just short of victory, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (25-10, 13-5 WCC) battled back from a 13-point deficit, but ultimately fell to Loyola Chicago (24-11, 12-6 A-10), 77-76, in the second round of the NIT at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Jayden Dawson opened up the contest with a three-pointer, but the Dons answered with a Junjie Wang layup and a Robby Beasley trey to take a 5-3 advantage two minutes into the ballgame.
• A Des Watson jumper soon tied the game for Loyola Chicago, but a 7-0 Dons run with buckets from Wang, Veniamin Abosi and Malik Thomas gave USF an early seven-point lead, 12-5, with 15 minutes remaining.
• The Ramblers followed suit with 16 unanswered points, including five more points from both Watson and Jayden Dawson, to lead 21-12 with 10:30 to play in the first half.
• Thomas hit a three to snuff the Ramblers' run, but LUC kept its foot on the gas, stretching its lead to 13 points, 28-15, with eight minutes left in the period.
• Crawling their way back into the game, Carlton Linguard Jr. hit his first three-ball of the contest, followed by buckets from Abosi and Thomas to cut Loyola Chicago's lead in half, with the green and gold trailing 32-25 with under four minutes left to play in the half.
• Continuing to battle back, Thomas converted on all five of his free throw attempts in the final two minutes to send the Dons back into the locker room down by just four, 36-32. Notably, San Francisco end the half on a 17-8 run in the final eight minutes after trailing by as many as 13 points.
• Loyola Chicago opened up the second half of play with back-to-back buckets from Dawson to go back up by eight, but Linguard Jr. quickly answered back with a put-back dunk and a jump hook to bring it back to a four-point game, 40-36, with 17:37 to play in the second half.
• Dawson free throws put the Ramblers up 46-41 with 14:48 on the clock, but the Dons flipped the game soon after with an Abosi three and a tough Thomas and-one to give USF its first lead since the 15-minute mark of the first half, 47-46, with 13:34 remaining.
• Trading blows, USF and LUC caught fire connecting on five straight possessions, including and-one opportunities from both James O'Donnell and Wang and another Thomas three, with the game tied at 54-apiece with 11 minutes left in the second half.
• Retaking the lead, baskets from Miles Rubin and Dawson put the Ramblers back in front, 59-54, with 10:41 to play in regulation. Quickly turning the game around, Thomas put up a personal 7-0 run to put the Dons ahead 61-59 with 9:25 to go.
• Not a single field goal was made over the next four-plus minutes, but Loyola Chicago took advantage with a 9-3 burst, all at the charity stripe, to retake a four-point lead, 68-64, with five minutes on the clock.
• Gaining back control, two more Thomas free throws and a clutch and-one on the break from Jason Rivera-Torres put San Francisco back on top, 71-70, with 3:39 to play.
• Thomas converted at the free throw line once again to bump USF's lead to three, but Dawson followed with back-to-back baskets to put Loyola Chicago back in front, 75-73, with 1:41 on the clock.
• Continuing the back-and-forth affair, Thomas hit a clutch step-back three to put the Dons back in front, but it was countered with a Dawson layup, with the score at 77-76 favoring the Ramblers with 56 seconds remaining.
• Ending the game, San Francisco got the stop it needed to get the ball back with eight seconds remaining, pushing the ball down the floor. Thomas couldn't convert on a tough drive to take the lead, but Rivera-Torres corralled the rebound. His first putback came up short, and after grabbing another offensive rebound, the clock hit double zeroes before he was able to get off a second try as the Ramblers ultimately squeezed out the victory, 77-76, to advance to the NIT Quarterfinals.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• With yet another career performance against Loyola Chicago, Thomas eclipsed his career-high with 36 points, shooting a perfect 17-of-17 from the free throw line, which tied for the second-most made free throws without a miss in a single game this season across Division I (19, Monmouth's Madison Durr).
• Following up his season-high scoring output from the last game, Linguard Jr. scored 14 points, shooting 6-of-11 from the floor, while grabbing eight rebounds and tallying a game-high +12 plus-minus.
• As a unit, San Francisco took care of the ball better than they have all season, totaling a season-low six turnovers.

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full postgame interview with head coach Chris Gerlufsen, please click here.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.
 
MERCHANDISE:
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SPONSOR US:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor - Planet Orange - for their continued support of San Francisco Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (41o5) 422-4561.