RICHMOND, Va. – Andrew Kostecka had his sixth career game with 30 or more points, posting a game-high 30 on Sunday evening, but Virginia Commonwealth University outscored Loyola by 25 in the second half to pull away for an 85-51 victory in the teams' non-conference finale at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.
 
The loss snapped Loyola's five-game winning streak, but it enters Patriot League play on Thursday with an 8-5 record, it's best non-conference mark since the 2012-2013 season. The Greyhounds start their 18-game conference slate January 2 with a 7 p.m. home game against College of the Holy Cross.
 
Kostecka had his second-straight game with 27 or more points as he culminated a three-day stretch in which he averaged 28.5 points and 9.0 rebounds following a 27-point, 10-rebound outing Friday night in a win over UMass Lowell. He also moved into 12^th all-time at Loyola in career points (1,465) during Sunday's game.
 
He was the only Greyhounds player to score in double-figures, however, while VCU had three with 12 or more and eight with five-plus.
 
A Kostecka free throw with 3:49 left in the first half pulled Loyola (8-5 overall) within three, 32-29, but Nah'Shon Hyland made a three with 30 ticks on the clock to push the Rams' advantage to nine, 40-31, at the break.
 
VCU (10-3) pushed its lead to 15 in the second half's first four minutes as De'Riante Jenkins made two of his five 3-pointers, wrapped around a Marcus Santos-Silva basket in the paint.

Golden Dike scored five in a row for the Greyhounds to get the deficit back to 10, 50-40, with 13:56 on the clock, and it was 53-42 after a Kostecka basket with 12:02 remaining in regulation before the Rams went on a 16-0 run to stretch the lead to 69-42.
 
Jenkins and Hyland each scored 15 for VCU, and Keshawn Curry added 12. Cam Spencer and Dike each finished with seven for the Greyhounds.