Doyle Rules! Doyle Rules!

Doyle Rules! Doyle Rules!

By Peyton Wesner

Thursday, March 6, 2014

---St. Louis, Missouri.

            4.8 seconds left. Score: the seventh-seeded Bradley Braves 72, the tenth-seeded Loyola (IL) Ramblers 71. Tonight was session one of the Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament which features the second ranked team in the country, the Wichita State Shockers. Although Wichita State had a bye this evening, the best game of the whole Missouri Valley Conference Season so far took place between the two teams I previously mentioned. But before I tell what went down in those last 4.8 seconds, I would like to give a little background on both of the teams.

            The Bradley Braves are located in Peoria, Illinois and did not have a good season to say the least. Despite starting the season 4-0, the Braves eventually got their clock cleaned by a good Illinois Fighting Illini team featuring former MVC-first teamer Rayvonte Rice. The game versus Illinois took the team with high hopes on a skid of one win in their next nine, which ultimately sent them to the bottom half of “The Valley.” The Loyola Ramblers are the newcomer in Missouri Valley Conference as they came from the Horizon League. They are located in Chicago, Illinois and are the team that replaced the best in the Missouri Valley Conference last season, the Creighton Blue Jays. The Blue Jays featured this year’s Wooden Award front-runner and All-American, Doug McDermott, so of course the Ramblers have huge shoes to fill. Loyola never really got the engine started this year and came into tonight on a six-game losing streak.

Loyola dominated for most of the forty minutes as they kept Bradley from getting into an offensive groove. Then, with eleven seconds left and the Ramblers licking their chops to get a defensive stop in order to win their first ever Missouri Valley Conference Tournament game, MVC-second teamer Walt Lemon Jr. drew a foul allowing him the opportunity to attempt two free throws with 4.8 seconds left and Bradley down one poiny. He hit the first with everything riding on the second including if this could be his last ever collegiate game. SWISH! Bradley had the lead but the game wasn’t over yet. Loyola Head Coach Porter Moser called a timeout to draw up a play that had to be going to their best player, Milton Doyle.

Milton Doyle, a redshirt freshman from Chicago, had a terrific standout senior season in high school by averaging 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals per game. He is a “natural stat sheet stuffer” that had such a great senior year that Kansas University offered him a scholarship, which he would later accept. I know what you’re thinking, if he accepted the offer to play for the Jayhawks, how in the heck did he end up at a small school in Chicago? He did go to Kansas for the 2011-2012 season but ended up being redshirted. So after that year, he decided to go back to his hometown and play for the Ramblers. Since he transferred, NCAA rules made him sit out the 2012-2013 season which led to this season and this moment.

             4.8 seconds left. The Loyola inbounder looks for the cutting point guard, named Christian Thomas. Thomas grabs the ball and rushes it up court. 3.8 seconds remaining. Thomas passes to Doyle who walked his defender towards the basket and popped out to receive the ball. 2.2 seconds. Doyle dribbles by Lemon Jr. making his way into shooting range. 1.4 seconds. He picked up his dribble and began his shooting motion while two Bradley defenders closed out on him. The shot soared through the air as the clock hit triple zeros. The next sound everyone heard in Scottrade Center after the buzzer sounded was SWISH! The “Freshman of the Year” did it! Doyle did it! Loyola Wins! The team celebrated and ended up going into the crowd to enjoy with their student section. The atmosphere was unbelievable and who would have thought that the seven versus ten game that ended at 11:10 P.M. Central Standard Time would have supplied that much excitement.

            I am sure in five to ten years only a select few will be able to remember this historic moment for Loyola Men’s Basketball. Probably only people in attendance, Bradley and Loyola fans will only remember. With that being stated, I am 100% sure of one thing: I will never forget this game and the name Milton Doyle.