Two years ago, Loyola’s James Bunn and UNO’s Joey Barnitz commandeered a Wolfpack backcourt that vanquished conference nemesis Spring Hill College twice in the regular season.
By this Halloween night, however, times had changed.
Barnitz came out dressed as a Privateer, wearing the same No. 5 as Bunn did – as he has since 2004-05, when he opted for a career alongside the Lakefront and defected from The Den – and collected a 78-59 victory against his former teammate.
They both debuted in the 2002-03 campaign.
“He’s always been a very smart, very poised player,” accounting senior Bunn said of Barnitz. “He’s improved a lot over the years and I saw it today.”
“I was excited playing against my old club. I thought Loyola came very prepared and played us very hard, especially James,” Barnitz added.
The two No. 5’s dueled early: Bunn, who tallied nine points and four assists, broke free from the baseline on an inbounds pass from guard Luke Zumo, psychology junior, and soared over a pursuing Barnitz for the breakaway finish.
“He told me before the game that since we were both fives, we had to represent,” Bunn said.
Barnitz had five points, two assists and a first-half, three-point buzzer beater.
HARD-FOUGHT BATTLE
Both Zumo and forward Mario Faranda, finance junior, gunned the Wolfpack to a 13-12 lead early.
The 6-foot-4 Faranda collected a post-feed, spun past UNO’s 6-foot-10 center Ben Elias, bucketed the shot and drew a foul. Faranda, who finished with a team-high 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, converted the foul try.
“He was playing 6-foot-10 guys and was like a warrior,” coach Michael Giorlando said of Faranda.
Zumo also arched a three-point shot over Sun Belt Conference starlet Bo McCalebb, pinballing it in off the rim. He also tallied 16 points.
General business freshman Sean Bennett buried two three-pointers.
But then McCalebb’s acrobatic scoring -led all with 20 points – and UNO’s athleticism suffocated Loyola to three scores from its last sixteen possessions of the half.
Leading 41-25, UNO allowed Loyola only one Faranda score in the first 13 possessions of the second half.
Loyola finished with 19 turnovers and shot a haphazard 33.3 percent, a symptom that UNO’s superior athleticism disrupted them.
“Those guys are mid-major athletes, so of course they are going to wreak havoc. If you don’t handle it properly, you’re going to go on droughts and rush shots,” Giorlando said.
UNO somehow managed a convincing win despite allowing Loyola to collect 18 offensive rebounds, a stat that Giorlando says “normally means win.”
They responded to everything Loyola dealt: forward Nick Tuzynski, general business freshman, swatted an Elias post shot only for Jamie McNeily to record a three-pointer on the second chance.
Most important to Giorlando was his team’s “integrity.”
Down 74-54, Bunn and history sophomore Torry Beaulieu dove headlong trying to dispossess UNO’s Shaun Reynolds.
Reynolds broke the pressure and found Elias, but Faranda blocked him.
“They promised each other they’d compete for 40 minutes and they did,” Giorlando said.
Ramon Vargas can be reached at [email protected].
