After 32 minutes at Reitz Arena last night it looked as if Loyola College was breezing to an easy win over Monmouth.
With 7:48 left, the Greyhounds' Teron Owens hit a three-pointer to give Loyola a 20-point lead.
"I think this one's over," said Loyola sophomore guard Milt Williams.
Loyola's Brian Ellerbe may be a first-year head coach, but when he heard that he climbed all over Williams.
"Somebody heard him," Ellerbe said. "At that point we started celebrating -- and it nearly cost us the game."
With 55 seconds left, Monmouth had pulled to within three. The )) crowd of 857 could hardly believe what it was seeing.
But then Darius Johnson, Loyola's high scorer for the night with 24 points, hit four straight free throws to clinch the 82-74 victory for the Greyhounds.
What undid Loyola, in addition to the premature celebrating, was the press Monmouth threw at the home team.
During Monmouth's 23-6 late run Loyola turned over the ball on six of seven possessions.
High scorer for the game was Monmouth's John Giraldo with a career-high 33 points.
"I should have had 40," Giraldo said. "If I had hit my foul shots [5-for-12], we would have won."
The nonconference victory gives Loyola a 2-1 record, its other games having been a win over William and Mary and a 30-point loss at Maryland on Tuesday.
This was the opening game for 0-1 Monmouth.
"We learned a lesson in this game," said Ellerbe, who was an assistant coach at Virginia last year. "Milt [Williams] is just a kid and kids are going to say things like he did tonight. But he won't say it again."
Williams finished with 10 points and eight assists and B. J. Pendleton added 22 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for Loyola.
Monmouth was playing without two starters, 6-foot-8 Glenn Stokes and 6-6 Jack Gordon, both of whom were injured in preseason practice.
"Maybe we should have pressed earlier," said Monmouth coach Wayne Szoke, "but I didn't feel we had the depth to do that. I was afraid we'd be out of firepower late in the game. I thought our kids looked emotionally drained in the first half because of first-game nerves."
In the end, it was Loyola that felt emotionally drained after surviving Monmouth's late surge.
MA "It was a W," said Ellerbe. "I should feel better than I do."