Loyola of Chicago holds off Western Illinois late, 72-67

CHICAGO (AP) Montel James scored 21 points and Devon Turk added 17 more as Loyola of Chicago built a big first-half lead, then held on to beat Western Illinois, 72-67 Monday night.

Turk scored 13 of his points in the first half as the Ramblers took a lead at the break by shooting 13 of 23 from the floor (56.5 percent), including 5 of 10 from behind the arc. But the shots did not fall as easily in the second half, where Loyola (7-5) hit just 10 of 23 from the field (43.5 percent) and were just 1 of 5 from distance.

Garret Covington hit for 19 points and Jabari Sandifer added 12 more to lead the Leathernecks (7-4), who hit 6 of 10 from deep in the second half to get back into the game.

Loyola's deeper bench, led by James and Donte Ingram's 12 points, outscored Western Illinois, 45-17.