SteemSports Presenter:
SteemSports Editor:
The first ticket was punched tonight to make the 2018 National Championship Game when the Loyola Chicago Ramblers played against the Michigan Wolverines. The game took place at the Final 4 in San Antonio, Texas in front of a packed house and national audience. The Ramblers were playing the role of Cinderella and the Wolverines were the heavy favorite.
Michigan got off to a nice start and took a 12-4 lead. Loyola Chicago missed seven straight shots until some magic started to happen for the underdogs. They would go on an incredible run in the first half and enjoy a 29-22 halftime lead. It was their defense though that made the big difference in the first 20 minutes as they had the Wolverine offense on lock down.
The second half started off just like the first half ended. Loyola Chicago came out aggressive and took a 10 point lead with 14 minutes left. It was looking like Cinderella would live to fight another day and advance to the National Championship Game on Monday. But then Michigan big man Moritz Wagner would take complete control of the game. He hit big shot after big shot and not only did the 10 point lead get erased fast, but Michigan would go up by double digits themselves. Wagner would be the games leading scorer with 24 points and have a huge 15 rebounds.
It was sad to see the face of March Madness, 98 year old Sister Jean, of the Loyola Ramblers have her dream of a National Championship end. But the Michigan Wolverines were simply the better team and made the big shots when it mattered in the second half. They will definitely have their hands full with the Villanova Wildcats on Monday night.
