Her name is Loyola – Chicago.  The 11 seed Ramblers found themselves down 20-8 to start the game.  And all this team did was finish the rest of the first half on a 20-4 run to take a 4 point lead at halftime.

Eventually, the Ramblers got up by double digits, and Nevada did what they have done all tournament.   They came charging back – tying the game at 59 with 4 minutes left.

But Loyola is an impressive team from the perspective of how unselfish they are – they were constantly making the extra pass to get someone wide open.  First, Clayton Custer found Aundre Jackson for a three pointer to regain the lead.  Then, Ben Richardson drove to the basket and when the defense collapsed on him, he flipped the ball to Jackson for an easy layup to give the Ramblers a 4 point lead.   But Caleb Martin came right back down the court to drill a three pointer to cut the lead to 1 with 1 1/2 minutes left.

Both teams traded off free throws to set the stage with 36 seconds left.  In Loyola’s first game, Donte Ingram hit a three pointer with time running out to win the game.  Against Tennesse, it was Custer who was the star with a drive to the basket to win the game.  This time, Custer ran time off the shot clock until it was time to drive to the basket.  He got into the lane and then kicked the ball out to the corner to Marques Townes, who calmly let the defender jump by him, take one dribble and drilled a three pointer to give the Ramblers a 4 point lead.  Three different players, three critical end of game shots, three clutch game-winning shots.

You have to give Nevada a lot of credit, there is no quit in their star Caleb Martin, who quickly advanced the ball up the court and made a three pointer to cut the lead back to 1 with 1.8 seconds.  But Nevada fell victim to their own clean play, as they only had 4 fouls.  So, Loyola was able to run out the clock before Nevada could commit their 3 fouls to send them to the line.

Cinderella refuses to leave the dance.  The Loyola – Chicago Ramblers, after winning their first 3 games by a combined 4 points, are now only the 8th 11 seed in history to make the Elite 8.   One more victory, and they will join fellow 11 seeds VCU, George Mason and LSU as the highest seeded teams to ever make the Final Four.  Congratulations to the Ramblers for another fantastic victory!