BALTIMORE – Four Loyola University Maryland men's basketball players scored 11 or more points, led by 21 from Andrew Kostecka, as the Greyhounds led for the final 31-plus minutes to turn back the U.S. Naval Academy, 79-73, on Saturday evening in Retiz Arena.
 
Kostecka's 21 game as he went 13 of 14 from the free-throw line, and he also had a game-high seven rebounds. Jaylin Andrews added 16 points, while Isaiah Hart had 14.
 
Santi Aldama made his collegiate debut on Saturday against the Midshipmen (12-9 overall, 6-4 Patriot League), and he finished with 11 points, three assists and a blocked shot in just 17 minutes of action. The Spanish national, who was the Most Valuable Player of the FIBA European U-18 Championships last summer as Spain won the title, missed Loyola's first 22 games of the year with an injury before returning tonight.
 
Loyola (10-13, 2-8) shot an even 50 percent from the field, making 65.2 percent in the first half as it built a 42-30 lead at halftime. The Greyhounds also knocked down 9 of 17 3-point attempts (52.9 percent) and held the Midshipmen to 18.5 percent (5 of 27) from behind the line in the game.
 
The Greyhounds also used a 30-25 advantage on the boards, and they went 28 of 35 (80 percent) from the free-throw line.
 
Navy, which entered the game in second place in the Patriot League, opened up a 13-7 lead less than six minutes in on a Cam Davis jumper, but Loyola then went on an 18-2 run that stretched over five minutes.
 
Aldama started the stretch with his first collegiate points on a layup, and Hart then came up with a steal near half court and threw it to Aldama at the center line. Aldama then one-touched it back to Hart who scored in transition to get Loyola within two.
 
Davis momentarily slowed the run with a basket at 13:02, but Aldama drained a three from the top of the perimeter just over a minute later, making it a 15-14 Navy lead. Two Kostecka free throws with 11:13 left in the first half would put Loyola in front for the first time and give the Greyhounds a lead they would not relinquish.
 
Andrews, Hart and Kostecka then hit 3-pointers on consecutive Loyola possessions to balloon the lead to 25-15 with 8:27 to go in the half, and while Navy quickly got back within six, an Aldama jumper at 4:06 made it 32-21 Loyola with 4:06 to go before the break.
 
Loyola extended its advantage to a dozen at halftime when Hart fired a one-handed bounce pass into Dike who scored in the post with four ticks left before the break to make it 42-30.
 
Two Kostecka free throws just over four minutes into the second half stretched the Loyola lead to 13, 49-36, but that would be the Greyhounds' largest advantage.
 
Navy twice got within a point, first on two Davis free throws with 8:04 left and again on a John Carter Jr. 3-pointer with 7:19 left. That shot pulled the Midshipmen to within 57-56, but Loyola scored seven in a row, capped by Kenneth Jones' second triple of the second half.
 
Andrews, Hart and Kostecka (twice) all made pairs of free throws in the final minute to help secure the game.
 
Davis scored a game-high 25 points for Navy, while Evan Wieck added 21.
 
Loyola heads back on the road for its next game, a Wednesday, February 5, affair at College of the Holy Cross.