BALTIMORE – A 7-0 UMBC run turned a 61-60 Retrievers lead into a 68-60 advantage with 4:01 left in regulation, and while Loyola University Maryland men's basketball clawed back to within three, the Retrievers held on for a 72-69 win Tuesday night in Reitz Arena.
Kenneth Jones and
Golden Dike both had double-doubles for the Greyhounds. Dike had his first of the season and fourth of his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Jones posted his second in two weeks with 16 points, 10 assists and six steals.
Loyola (4-8 overall) went up by seven, 17-10, less than seven minutes into the game and led 28-21 with 6:07 left in the period, but UMBC scored 14 of the next 16 points to go up 35-30 with 2:22 on the first-half clock.
Jones and
Chris Kuzemka, however, hit threes on back-to-back Loyola possessions, and the Greyhounds regained the lead. UMBC (8-4) knottoed it, 36-36, with a Yaw Obeng-Mensah free throw, and the teams went into the locker room tied.
Neither Loyola, nor the Retrievers, would lead by more than three for the first 13 minutes of the second half until Mason Docks gave UMBC a 61-57 advantage with 6:44 to play.
Kuzemka knocked down a three to get the Loyola deficit back to one, but UMBC scored the next seven and led 68-60 after two Matteo Picarelli free throws.
Jones fed a pass to
Alonso Faure for two in the paint, and he then scored himself to get the margin to four, 68-64, at 3:02 before Jacob Boonyasith hit a fading jumper with a hand in his face at 1:54 to push UMBC's lead back to six.
Two Docks free throws lengthened the advantage to 72-64, but Loyola's press kept the Greyhounds alive.
Perry hit a three off a Jones steal, one of his career-high six, and then Docks missed the front-end of one-and-one for the Retrievers.
Isaiah Alexander scored a pair of second-chance points in the paint with 15 ticks left to bring Loyola within three, 72-69.
Loyola fouled Colton Lawrence, the Retrievers' leading scorer entering the night, but he missed both free throws, and Loyola had the chance to tie with less than 10 seconds left. A Jones 3-point attempt went off the iron, however, and UMBC secured the rebound for the win.
Four Greyhounds scored in double figures, led by Jones' 16. Kuzemka had 14, while Perry added 11 and Dike had 10.
Loyola will take an eight-day break for fall-semester final exams before hosting Goucher College at 7 p.m. on Thursday, December 22.
