BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland led Saturday's Patriot League game against the U.S. Naval Academy for just 2.7 seconds, but
Jaylin Andrews' one-on-one drive and layup in the final ticks of the clock gave the Greyhounds a 69-67 conference win at Reitz Arena.
Golden Dike grabbed an offensive rebound with 9.5 seconds left and saved possession for the Greyhounds by turning and firing the ball of a Midshipmen defender, giving Loyola a baseline out-of-bounds opportunity.
After an officials' review to confirm possession belonged to Loyola and timeouts by both teams,
Kenneth Jones triggered the inbound from the left of the basket. He threw it to
Chris Kuzemka in the deep corner, and Kuzemka got it to Andrews at the top-right of the 3-point arc.
Andrews went one-on-one with Navy's Tyler Nelson, spinning back toward midcourt before driving right-handed to the hoop and laying in what would be the game-winning layup. Navy's Austin Inge launched a half-court heave that was on-line but short at the buzzer to seal Loyola's win.
The basket capped a huge Loyola comeback that saw the Greyhounds rally from a 36-29 halftime deficit that grew to as many as 16, 48-32, with 16:46 to go in the second half.
The 16-point deficit overcome by the Greyhounds was the largest they have erased in
Tavaras Hardy's five seasons as head coach of Loyola, and the biggest since the Greyhounds came from 17 down on January 24, 2018, to beat Lehigh University in double overtime, 91-88.
Down 16 after a three by Navy's Sean Yoder, Loyola cut the margin to 48-42 with a 10-0 run that covered four minutes. Jones hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to cap the stretch, and he also had a basket inside the arc during the run.
Daniel Deaver momentarily stopped the run with a layup for Navy at 12:00 to push the score to 50-42, but Kuzemka drained a three, and
Veljko Ilic followed with a layup at 10:39. Kuzemka drove the left side and scored at 9:50, and Loyola was down just one.
Deaver scored again at 9:00 to make it a three-point game, but Kuzemka buried one from behind the arc to tie the game for the first time since it had been scoreless in the opening minutes.
Navy (8-10 overall, 1-5 Patriot League) would go up by six, 65-56, with a transition three by Patrick Dorsey at 2:57, but Jones responded with a three off an Andrews assist 20 ticks of the clock later.
Kuzemka then tied the game again with a three at 1:42, but Dorsey scored in the paint to make it 67-65 Midshipmen with 80 seconds left.
It was Kuzemka again who tied the score with a mid-range jumper as the clock rolled under one minute to play, setting up the final sequences.
Navy turned the ball over with 40 seconds left with a pass that went out-of-bounds, and Loyola regained possession.
Kuzemka had a three that rimmed out, but Dike came down with the board, one of his game-high eight, to save possession and give Loyola the opportunity for the win.
Jones scored 16 points to lead Loyola, while Kuzemka added 15 and
Deon Perry tallied 12. Dike finished with eight points in addition to his rebounding total, while Andrews and Ilic each scored six.
Dorsey scored 18 to pace Navy, and Nelson added 16.
Loyola remains at home for its next game, hosting a nationally televised game on CBS Sports Network on Monday, January 16, against Lehigh University.
