EASTON, Pa. –
Santi Aldama set the Loyola University Maryland record, and match the Patriot League record, for rebounds in a game with 22 on Saturday, but Lafayette College came from behind to record a 97-94 victory in triple-overtime this season.
His 22 were one more than Jimmy "Jumpshot" Smith had on February 23, 1976 against American. The rebound total also ties Adonal Foyle's 22 in a Colgate game against Army West Point in 1995.
Aldama tied his career-high with 30 points in the game and posted his third double-double in as many games. He has five this season and seven in his 18-game collegiate career.
His output was the first time a Loyola player has had 20 or more points and 20 or more rebounds in a game.
He was one of three Loyola players with double-doubles in the game, as he was joined by
Golden Dike (12 points, 12 rebounds) and
Jaylin Andrews (12 points, 10 rebounds). Those three were part of five Loyola players who scored 10 or more.
Isaiah Hart had a season-high 13, and
Kenneth Jones tallied 10.
The Greyhounds set a team rebounding record, as well, on Saturday afternoon, grabbing 57 total boards. That number eclipsed the 53 they had last year against Elizabethtown (December 21, 2019).
Loyola led by as many as 13 in the game, taking a 62-49 advantage on a
Jaylin Andrews jumper with 7:10 left in regulation.
Luke Johnson had a traditional 3-point play with a basket and free throw at 5:31 that made it 65-53 Greyhounds, but a 16-5 run by Lafayette over the next 3:26 cut the Leopards' deficit to a point, 70-69, when 1:51 was on the second-half clock.
Just over 30 seconds later,
Jaylin Andrews went 1 of 2 at the free-throw line for Loyola, but Aldama grabbed the rebound on his miss and scored to put the Greyhounds in front, 73-69.
E.J. Stephens converted on a jumper for Lafayette with 61 ticks left, but Loyola misfired on a 3-pointer 25 seconds later. The Greyhounds came away with the offensive board, but they could not turn the second chance into points, giving Lafayette possession with 12 seconds to play.
The Leopards missed two shots inside of five feet, but the second rebound was tipped into the hands of Lafayette's Tyrone Perry who was open for a layup just before the buzzer that sent the game to overtime.
Lafayette led 79-76 in the first extra period with 2:28 left, but Hart tied it with a three 21 seconds later. Neal Quinn gave the Leopards a two-point advantage moments later, but it was Hart again, this time with jumper that tied the game at 81-81 with 55 seconds on the clock. That score would hold and send the teams to a second overtime.
Loyola led early in that period, but Lafayette went up 88-83 on a Stephens jumper with 2:32 on the clock. Aldama scored the next five points, and it was tied after he made two free throws at 1:22. Justin Jaworski made a field goal with 12 ticks left to stake Lafayette to a two-point lead, but Hart came through again for the Greyhounds, this time a runner down the left side of the lane to tie it at 90-90 and force a third overtime.
The Greyhounds never led in the third overtime as Lafayette built a 96-91 lead with 2:17 on the clock. An Aldama jumper with 78 seconds left got Loyola within two, 96-94, but Sean Good made it a 97-94 game with 1 of 2 free throws with eight seconds left. Loyola had two looks at 3-pointers, but both were offline and Lafayette came away with the win.
It was the fifth three-overtime game in Loyola's documented program history and the second this season. The Greyhounds had a 55-minute affair on January 24 against American.
Loyola has now lost six games this season by a combined 13 points, all six of those coming by four or fewer points.
The Greyhounds and Lafayette meet again this weekend, playing for the sixth time this season on Sunday, February 14, at 6 p.m. in Loyola's Reitz Arena.
Note: For many years, Loyola's records listed Charles McCollough as the school single-game record holder for rebounds with 44 in 1954-55. Recent research, however, showed no proof of this based on newspaper accounts and records in the Loyola archives.
