DAVIDSON, N.C. — Miles Rubin and Des Watson scored 13 points apiece, leading Loyola past Davidson 69-59 on Wednesday night.
Rubin added five blocks for the Ramblers (22-8, 14-3 Atlantic 10), tying the program’s season record of 66, set by Andre Moore in 1984-85. Braden Norris hit three 3-pointers, finishing with 11 points and seven rebounds. Rubin also had nine rebounds.
“Davidson had been playing the top teams in the league extremely close coming into this game,” coach Drew Valentine said, according to the Loyola athletics website. “They’re a good team, and I thought early in the first half we weren’t doing a good job getting the looks we wanted to get.
“We locked into our game plan, and we turned up our intensity, especially going into the second half. We amped up our urgency defensively, and offensively our execution and pace got better.”
Leading 32-30 at halftime, Loyola opened the second half with an 8-2 run, then used a 13-2 spurt to up its lead to 56-39 with 8 minutes, 36 seconds left and never looked back.
Connor Kochera led the Wildcats (15-15, 5-12) with 22 points. Bobby Durkin had 13 points and Grant Huffman 11.
The Ramblers finish their regular season against La Salle at 3 p.m. Saturday at Gentile Arena. The A-10 Tournament begins Tuesday at the Barclays Center in New York. Loyola’s first tournament game will March 14.