By: Andrew Gavin (@GBGavin)
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Freshman Jordan Fouse (Racine, Wis.) had his first career double-double and tied the school record with seven steals as Green Bay (7-9, 1-2 HL) locked down visiting Loyola (10-5, 1-2 HL) and posted a 58-45 win in Horizon League men's basketball action to open a four-game homestand Wednesday night at the Resch Center.

Green Bay held Loyola to just 2-of-19 shooting with 10 turnovers to start the game and led 21-5 with 5:15 remaining before halftime. Even when the Ramblers beat the buzzer to end the first half, they had shot just 5-of-26 from the field and trailed 28-12. The 12 points were the fewest scored in a half by a Phoenix opponent this season.

Sophomore Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) hit a pair of early three-pointers as Green Bay led 14-2. The Chicago native scored or assisted on eight of the team's 11 first-half field goals. He finished with 11 points and nine assists to improve to 6-0 in his career against schools from his hometown.

In the second half, Fouse stole the show. A 6-foot-7 freshman who has started since the opener for head coach Brian Wardle, Fouse had 11 points, four rebounds and five steals after halftime and finished with career highs in points (13), rebounds (11) and steals (7). Fouse finished the game at 5-of-6 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line.

After Loyola had closed the margin to 31-17 just four minutes into the second half, Green Bay went on an 8-0 run capped by a pair of buckets from Fouse that made it 39-17 with 14:09 left. Loyola cut the margin to 15, and Fouse converted a three-point play to push the Phoenix lead to 44-26.

Back-to-back Loyola threes cut a 20-point edge down to 14 with 6:35 remaining, but junior Kam Cerroni (Sussex, Wis.) drained a three-pointer and senior Brennan Cougill (Sioux City, Iowa) scored inside to put the game out of reach for good. Cerroni made all three of his long range shots for nine points and added 10 points (5-6 FGs) and four rebounds as the tandem combined for 19 points off the bench.

Led by Fouse, Green Bay's defense held Loyola to just 31.6 percent shooting on the night (18-57) and forced 18 turnovers. Highlighting the effort was the defense on All-Horizon League senior Ben Averkamp, who was held to just four points and committed five turnovers.

In its four-game home winning streak, Green Bay has held its opponents to 47.5 points per game and just 33.8 percent shooting from the field. The Phoenix also holds a plus-3.2 rebounding margin in that stretch, including a 37-34 edge on Wednesday night.

Green Bay will host the Horizon League's other Chicago school on Saturday, welcoming UIC to the Resch Center at 3 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. but has been moved to the afternoon as part of Green Bay's Back-to-Back-to-Pack promotions.

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