NORFOLK, Va. – Loyola University Maryland chopped a 19-point halftime deficit to as little as seven, but the Greyhounds' furious second-half comeback fell just short in a, 62-53, loss at Old Dominion on Wednesday night.
Andrew Kostecka led Loyola (1-2 overall) with 14 points to go with four rebounds, four steals, three assists and three blocks while
Chuck Champion added 11 points including three 3-pointers. The Monarchs (2-1) got a game-high 19 points from Malik Curry on 7-of-12 shooting. He also added six assists.
After Old Dominion jumped out to an early 15-5 lead, the Greyhounds went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 15-12 on a Kostecka layup with 7:21 to go in the first half. But it was all Monarchs after that as the reigning Conference USA champions finished the half on an 18-2 run to take a 33-14 lead into halftime.
It was a completely different story for the Greyhounds in the second half, flipping the script on a 6-for-24 (25%) shooting performance in the first half by going 15-of-26 (57.7%) in the second.
Loyola climbed back into the game with several short runs, the biggest coming with a 9-0 spurt that cut a 41-24 ODU lead to 41-33 on a Kostecka jumper with 10:00 left. The Monarchs got the lead back up to 10, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Champion sandwiched around a layup from the Monarchs made it a 7-point game at 46-39 with 8:29 remaining.
That would be as close as the Greyhounds would come as the teams traded buckets for most of the remaining of the contest. Old Dominion would build the lead back to double-digits on several occasions and Loyola would get as close as seven with just over a minute to go but couldn't finish the comeback bid.
Kostecka's 14-point performance was the 19
th-straight game the senior has finished with double figures.
Brent Holcombe and
Kenneth Jones had eight points apiece for the Greyhounds who outshot the Monarchs 42.0% to 40.3% for the contest.
Loyola is back in action on Sunday, November 16, for the team's home-opener against Fairfield at Reitz Arena at 6 p.m..
