WASHINGTON, D.C. – Andrew Kostecka tied his career-high with 31 points, Casmir Ochiaka scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double, and Isaiah Hart made two free throws with 1.6 seconds on the clock in regulation, giving Loyola University Maryland an 86-84 Patriot League victory at American University.
 
American (13-11 overall, 7-6 Patriot League) held a 74-63 lead with 4:34 left in the game, but Loyola (9-17, 5-8) ended the game on a 23-10 run.
 
Ochiaka gave Loyola converted a 3-point play on a layup and free throw with 1:04 left, and Kostecka stole the inbound pass, laying it in to cut the Eagles' lead to 82-81 with 56 seconds left.
 
A foul on the defensive end four seconds later, however, send American's Sam Iorio to the free-throw line, but he missed both at the stripe, and Ochiaka came down with the rebound.
 
The Greyhounds took more than 20 seconds off the game clock before Hart pulled up for a jumper that went off the mark. Ochiaka, however, was there for the rebound, laid it in and was fouled, converting his second-straight 3-point play to put Loyola in front, 84-82, with 31.7 seconds remaining.
 
After an Eagles timeout, Sa'eed Nelson drove the right side of the lane and scored for American with 19.1 on the clock, tying the game for the 13^th time.
 
The Greyhounds bled nearly the entire clock before Hart drove right, drew contact and went to the free-throw line. He made both foul shots, and the Greyhounds tipped away American's full-court heave to seal the win.
 
After the victory, the Greyhounds were greeted in the locker room by former United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, a longtime friend of fellow Chicagoan, Loyola Head Coach Tavaras Hardy. Duncan's message to the team was one of basketball teaching life skills. (see video below)
 
"All of this stuff you're learning on the court, the rest of your life you guys will be great teammates, and you're going to be great leaders," Duncan said. "Take these lessons, not just on the court, but in life. You guys are going to be friends for life. My best friends are my teammates from high school and my teammates from college."
 
Loyola led for a nine-minute stretch in the first half, going up by five on a Chuck Champion three with 10:16 to go in the period. A Jaylin Andrews layup at 4:07 made it 31-27 Greyhounds, but American scored six in a row to grab a 33-31 advantage on a Nelson basket.
 
Josh Alexander gave the Eagles a 35-33 lead with 33 ticks on the clock, but Kostecka beat the halftime buzzer with a jumper inside of 10 feet to send the teams to the locker room tied.
 
American used seven free throws in the first five minutes of the second half to help build a 51-44 lead on a Stacy Beckton Jr.. three at 14:50. Iorio then made a three at 14:07, stretching the lead to double-figure for the first time for either team in the game.
 
Loyola got back within five, 54-49, on a Kenneth Jones three at 13:18, but Jacob Boonyasith responded in kind 19 seconds later. More than five minutes later, Mark Gasperini scored in the paint to make the lead 13, 70-57.
 
The lead stayed at nine or higher for the Eagles over the next three-plus minutes with Beckton scoring at 4:34 to make it an 11-point American lead.
 
Jones and Ochiaka scored on back-to-back possessions for Loyola, but Gasperini tallied a bucket in the paint at 3:29 to push American's advantage back to nine.
 
After a missed American three, Chuck Champion tracked down a long rebound over halfcourt and fed Kostecka for a transition layup that sparked a stretch of seven-straight Loyola points.
 
Ochiaka made the first of his three and-ones at 2:19, and Kostecka had a steal and dunk at 2:06, cutting the lead to only two.
 
American, however, scored the next six points, and two Boonyasith free throws at 1:14 made it 82-76 before the final sequence played out.
 
In addition to the 31 from Kostecka, which tied his career-high from December at Drexel University, Ochiaka more than doubled his previous scoring-best with 17 points; his high before Wednesday had come when he had scored seven points three times in the last six weeks.
 
Jones added 14 points off the bench, and Hart tallied 10 to go with four assists. Champion had eight points and four assists, as well. Kostecka led all players with five steals.
 
The Greyhounds return to action on Sunday, February 17, when they host Lafayette College at 2 o'clock in Reitz Arena.