CHICAGO (AP) Erik Crawford and Ben Jacobson had 19 points apiece Saturday to place five Northern Iowa players in double-digits as the Panthers rallied late for an 80-73 victory over Loyola of Chicago.
The Panthers (3-1) finished 56 percent from the floor and had a 43-24 rebounding edge for the victory.
Northern Iowa outscored Loyola (2-4) 24-5 over the last four minutes of the first half and the first three minutes of the second half to move to a lead that reached 58-42.
DaJuan Gouard then led a Loyola streak of 16 unanswered points to tie the game with 7:52 left. He hit three straight three-pointers and Dave Telander added another to complete the string.
The teams then exchanged leads five times before Jacobson hit a short jumper with 2:02 left that put Northern Iowa ahead 71-70.
The Panthers never trailed again and padded their margin by hitting 7-of-8 free throws in the final 32 seconds.
Gouard tied a career-high with 27 points to lead the Ramblers. Majak Kou had 13 points and Tom Levin had 10.
Eric Coleman had 16 for Northern Iowa, while Chris Foster and Grant Stout both had 10. Stout also grabbed 10 rebounds to lead all players.
