BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland flipped a nine-point deficit into a two-point lead with 6:09 left in regulation, and big shots from the field and the free-throw line in the final minute put the Greyhounds over the top in an 81-77 Patriot League victory over the visiting U.S. Military Academy on Wednesday night in Reitz Arena.
 
Army West Point (13-13 overall, 8-7 Patriot League) built a 66-57 lead after a Tommy Funk 3-pointer with 9:05 left in regulation, but Loyola (14-14, 6-9) would hold the Black Knights scoreless for just shy of three minutes to take a 68-66 lead on a Cam Spencer layup and free throw with 6:09 on the clock.
 
During the 12-0 stretch, Andrew Kostecka and Santi Aldama hit threes, and Spencer scored six points.
 
Kostecka finished with a team-high 17 points as one of five players scored 11 or more. Isaiah Hart added 15 and four assists, while Aldama tallied 13 points and two blocked shots.
 
KaVaughn Scott had his second double-double in the last three games with 12 points and a career-best 12 rebounds. Spencer scored all 11 of his points in the second half, nine coming in the last eight minutes.
 
After Loyola regained the lead for the first time since less than two minutes into the second half, the advantage changed hands five times over the next five minutes.
 
Two Josh Caldwell free throws with 66 ticks left on the clock put the Black Knights in front, 75-73. Hart missed a jumper 17 seconds later, but he grabbed his own rebound, and Loyola called a timeout with 43.1 seconds on the clock.
 
Off the inbound pass, Spencer stepped behind a Hart screen and Aldama hit him with a pass at high-left wing. Spencer drained the three to put Loyola in front with less than 40 seconds to go.
 
After an Army West Point timeout, Funk assisted on a Matt Wilson layup with 23 seconds on the clock, swinging the lead to the Black Knights, 77-76.
 
Hart drove down the right side of the lane and drew a foul going to the basket. He made both free throws with 14 seconds left, and Loyola was again up one.
 
Army West Point called its last timeout, and out of the break, Funk drove the left baseline, but Hart stayed in front of him the entire way, and Funk's shot was offline.
 
Scott grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Immediately after that whistle, Army West Point's bench was called for a technical foul. Kostecka made the two free throws for the technical, and Scott hit the second of two to give the Greyhounds a four-point lead with 4.4 seconds left.
 
Funk drove into the frontcourt, but his wild 3-point attempt missed, and the Greyhounds sealed the win.
 
Loyola shot 50 percent from the field and had five players score in double-figures for the second game in a row. The Greyhounds also controlled a 42-32 advantage on the boards, thanks for Scott's 12 and four others posting five or more rebounds.
 
Matt Wilson and Lonnie Grayson each scored 20 points for the Black Knights, and Funk had 17.
 
The Greyhounds start a two-game road-trip on Sunday, February 23, when they head to Easton, Pennsylvania, for a 2 p.m. game at Lafayette College.