Men’s Basketball: Hawks drop opener at Loyola Chicago

The Rockhurst Hawks opened the 2012-13 regular season with a 64-41 loss at Loyola Chicago Monday night. The Ramblers shot 60.7 percent from the field in the second half to outscore the Hawks 42-26 in the final 20 minutes.

Loyola Chicago jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first eight minutes. Rockhurst went on a 11-2 run to cut the Ramblers' lead to 16-13. Loyola Chicago went into the half with a 25-18 lead. The Ramblers opened the second half on a 15-1 run over six minutes.

This was the third meeting between Rockhurst and Loyola Chicago. The Ramblers defeated the Hawks 69-46 last December in Chicago. In the first ever meeting between the Jesuit rivals, Rockhurst connected on 14 three-point field goals en route to an 86-79 win on Nov. 14, 2008 at Loyola Chicago.

Freshman forward David Wingerson led the Hawks with 10 points on five-of-12 field goal shooting. Junior forward Russell Burns posted a team-high eight rebounds before leaving the game with an injury in the final minute of the game.

Rockhurst returns four starters from last year’s team, led by junior guard Brandon McCann who averaged a team-high 11.6 points per game. The Hawks return home to host Kansas Wesleyan on Wednesday at 7 p.m.