Chaminade's Michael Oguine can be a sight for sore eyes for the Loyola basketball team.
"For two years, he's been giving us buckets," Loyola head coach Jamal Adams admitted.
Oguine was up to his old tricks Wednesday night. His scoring prowess, however, wasn't enough to lift the Eagles to a road win as Loyola defeated Chaminade, 64-61, in a Mission League contest.
There was no mistaking who the best player on the floor was on Wednesday night. He was wearing No. 4 in blue -- Oguine. He kept the Eagles soaring when it appeared the would get blown back to West Hills.
Loyola (13-7, 5-2 Mission League) began the game on an 8-0 run. That run was extended to 12-3. Not even halfway through the first quarter Chaminade head coach Todd Wolfson had to burn two timeouts. Then awoke Oguine. The Montana commit scored all 12 of the Eagles first quarter points to cut the Cubs lead to 14-12 after one.
"I decided to just do what I needed to do to get my team going," Oguine said.
. @CubHoops sophomore Kyle Reece after Loyola's 64-61 win https://t.co/yS1nmC6oiG
— Rahshaun Haylock (@RHaylock) January 29, 2015
Chaminade (16-6, 3-4 Mission League) didn't have another player score a basket until there was less than six minutes left in the first half and Oguine had scored 15 straight for the visitors by himself.
In a sense, Adams had seen this movie before. Not only had Oguine been a thorn in the Cubs' side in recent years, but what he was watching was eerily similar to how he watched a former player of his --current University of Arizona guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright.
Adams marveled at Oguine's "world class balance," which was similar to his guy. In the end, it was his team's balance that helped Loyola to a win.
The Cubs were without leading scorer Max Hazzard who continues to nurse a bone bruise. Coming off of the bench and providing huge minutes was sophomore guard Kyle Reece.
"Kyle Reece was unbelievable tonight," Adams said.
The sophomore finished with four points and made a crucial fourth quarter block of a Chaminade layup attempt. It was an unexpected impact.
. @CubHoops senior captain Stone Gettings following Loyola's 64-61 win https://t.co/YrPDzKRN5Y
— Rahshaun Haylock (@RHaylock) January 29, 2015
"I just keep my head up," he said. "My parents, my coaches, they just really told me to keep my head up and keep on working. That's what I did."
Henry Welsh and Stone Gettings did the heavy lifting on the interior with 11 and 16 points, respectively. Gettings connected on a putback to push Loyola ahead for good with 1:07 left in the game.
Oguine missed a potential tying three point attempt just inside the half court line as time expired. A undeserving finish for the senior on a fantastic night in which he scored 31 points. His backcourt mate Jordan Ogundiran scored all 10 of his points on the fourth quarter to help the Chaminade near comeback.
"It was a tough, gutty win," Adams said. "They're down some guys. We're down some guys. It's the Missions League, just tough games every night."
