BALTIMORE – Three Loyola University Maryland men's basketball players scored 18 or more points on Friday afternoon as the Greyhounds set a school record for field-goal percentage in a 91-57 win over visiting St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Deon Perry led the Greyhounds with 19 points, while
Tyson Commander and
D'Angelo Stines each had 18.
Loyola made 33 of 46 shots in the game, good for 71.7 percent to beat the record that had stood since 1978. The Greyhounds' previous best came in a January 21, 1978 game against Lehigh when they made 31 of 44 shots (70.5).
In the second half, Loyola shot 88.9 percent from the field, making all 11 of its 2-point attempts and 5 of 7 3-pointers.
Overall, the Greyhounds shot 63.2 percent from 3-point range (12 of 19), the 10
th-best single-game performance in school history and the best when making 12 or more threes.
The Greyhounds also controlled a 38-9 rebounding advantage against the Seahawks.
Golden Dike finished with one less rebound than all of the Seahawks with a game-high nine boards.
Dike scored seven and had a team-best four assists.
Milos Ilic added nine points and four rebounds.
St. Mary's twice cut the second-half margin to five points, the second time coming on a Hollique Johnson 3-pointer with 17:51 left in regulation to make it 48-43. An
Alonso Faure free throw and threes by Commander and Stines stretched the lead back to 12, 55-43, and it remainded in double figures for the rest of the game.
Early in the first half, the Greyhounds led 7-4 after a Micah Henry jumper with 13:23 to play, but Loyola's defense spurred a run.
Dike came up with a steal, and
Milos Ilic finished in the paint at 12:15 to start an 11-0 run.
Perry made three 3-poitners during the run, and Dike had a basket in the paint. Perry's final three of the stretch opened a 20-6 lead with 9:02 on the clock.
Defense played a key role in a later stretch when Loyola scored six unanswered.
Tyson Commander made two free throws ta 6:02 to start the run, and
D'Angelo Stines converted a Comamnder steal into a 3-point basket less than 30 seconds later to put Loyola in front, 29-17.
Commander then had his second steal in as many defensive possessions, and his transition layup made it a 14-point Loyola lead with 5:11 on the first half clock.
St. Mary's got back within six, 37-31, with 1:19 on the clock, but threes by
David Brown III and Stines gave the Greyhounds a 43-33 halftime cushion.
Perry finished 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Commander made all six of his field goals, and Stines was 6 of 10 from the field and 4 of 6 from behind the arc.
Loyola will close its regular-season non-conference schedule on Friday, December 29 with a 7 p.m. game at St. Joseph's University.
